The Forbidden Bond
by cocobomb16
Summary: Things have changed since the Blood Moon Ball. Marco is consumed with thoughts about Star and more ominously, her wand, but when things get out of hand, an entire conspiracy unravels, and Marco and Star realize they are a part of greater plot that could jeopardize everyone they know and care about, including each other. [CANCELLED story; may have a reboot in the near future]
1. Chapter 1: Thoughts

**Introductory Note:** This is actually my first fan fiction piece ever. I have enjoyed watching Star Vs. The Forces of Evil and love just about everything it has to offer. I have a general sense of where this story could end up going but I'll be honest, my writing/storytelling will be a bit rusty. Needless to say, I have the benefit of advancing the story down a new path wherever it goes but rest assured, I will try my best to keep this story as close to the canon as possible. Please, as with any other fanfic, offer your genuine comments and constructive criticism. I am very open to ideas and suggestions. This first chapter I admit, is pretty slow with little dialogue, but this is only the beginning I promise! :)

DISCLAIMER: Star vs. The Forces of Evil is the intellectual property of the Walt Disney Company and Daron Nefcy. This is published under fair use for non-profit.

* * *

It had only been a week since the night of the Blood Moon Ball. Yet, ever since then, Marco could not help but think about what happened that fateful night. He wondered, what made that night so special? After all, this week, he and Star had their hands full with Chinese food, time traveling, and even an unexpected visit from Star's father.

 _Star,_ Marco thought, letting that name sink in a bit. There was a deep, nuanced feeling rooted deep inside him that seemed to squeeze him every time he heard that name. The very thought of Star herself too, brought up this feeling inside him.

 _What is it?_ he thought, frowning, struggling to make sense of it. It bothered him that these thoughts had been preoccupying him. He reassured himself, he definitely did not like Star in a romantic way. He could not, and would not accept that possibility.

Star was his best friend, his _true_ friend, he would add, and their friendship transcended any bond that romance could offer. To find himself with unnecessary feelings for his best friend would seem to compromise their very friendship. In some sense, it even felt...forbidden.

 _I don't_ , he thought to himself. He said it again, this time aloud, to ensure that this message would go straight to his head.

 _But why not?_ Marco jolted, lurching straight up from his mattress. Sweat beads collected on his forehead and neck. He touched his neck and gently wiped his sweat off before peering at the clock. It was half past one and the home was dead silent.

That thought. It frightened him. Marco didn't know why it seemed so terrifying, but he knew that it wasn't just spontaneous. It wasn't his own doing either. It felt off.

Marco noticed that his window was left ajar and his curtains were drifting against the cool breeze from outside. He got out of bed, and carefully shut and locked the window before closing up the curtains.

Through the curtains' fabric, he saw the fuzzy outline of the shining moon. It was no longer a full moon. Now, the moon only revealed half of its face, with the other half in utter darkness and obscurity. Shifting his eyes below, he saw his entire neighborhood completely dark, save for the street lights.

He suddenly felt compelled to check up on Star, if only to see if she was having a good night's sleep. Before he turned around, Marco stopped himself, wondering if it would be worth it. What if he woke her up and how then would he explain himself being inside her room at this time? The very act of sneaking into her room to check on her sounded creepy too Marco realized.

 _I'll still go_ , Marco thought. This time, he wasn't sure if this one thought was truly him or not. It didn't really matter to him anyways as he made his way towards the door. Cautiously twisting the doorknob, he poked his head out into the hallway. To the left, at the very end, stood Star's door.

Marco left his room and began to creep silently through the hall, taking extra precaution as to not alarm his parents next door.

After making four painstakingly small steps, he stopped and listened for any stirring or evidence of someone being awake. Faintly, he heard the muffled snores of his father behind him and then continued down.

The floor board softly creaked with each step Marco took. No matter how hard he tried to lessen the severity of each creak, each seemed to amplify-mocking Marco's hapless attempt to visit Star discreetly and quietly.

Finally, he had enough. Figuring himself that no one at this hour could hear a few creaks, he began walking normally, ignoring each creak and whine, and within moments, found himself staring right at the doorway of Star's bedroom.

His heart was racing, and he breathed heavily, wondering why he gone through all the trouble of coming here. Marco looked back, and saw that his door was still open, with the moonlight shining straight into the hallway.

 _I could still turn back_ , he thought, but he shook his head. _I'm doing it_. He placed his hand on the gold-encrusted doorknob and clutched it.

Suddenly, Marco felt a rush of embarrassment. He somehow felt that, at that moment, he was in the presence of others and that they were delighting themselves in his ordeal. Worst of all, he feared of what could happen next if he entered the room. Cringing, he heaved, forcing himself to open the door.

With a thrust, the door flung open and Marco dizzily spun into the room before he regained balance by stomping on the floor. The door slammed against the wall and the noise echoed through Star's tower room.

Marco clenched his teeth and stood still tensely, anticipating for Star to start screaming at him. After a few seconds had passed by, he heard soft breathing ahead. Marco loosened up, and took a good look at Star in the darkness.

Star was lying on her bed, facing Marco, and wrapped around a pillow. Her mouth wide open, she seemed peaceful in her sleep.

Relieved that he managed to somehow not wake up Star or his parents, Marco took one last look at Star before leaving. There was something comforting in seeing Star like this.

When she was awake, Star was always bouncing with energy and full of uncontrollable zeal. Here, she was more at rest, and placid. She looked like another normal girl. But Marco knew that wasn't the case. She was a princess-the heiress apparent to a kingdom of another dimension-one that wielded great power from her wand.

 _The wand_ , Marco thought. He frowned, pondering why this had suddenly come to his mind. Next to Star's bed, on top of the drawers lied Star's wand. It rested atop Star's Magic Instruction Book, a book filled with spells and information pertaining to the wand.

Marco knew what power the wand was capable of unleashing. It could summon virtually anything from large narwhals to laser-shooting puppies. Anything from the mundane to the...more sinister. Whoever held control of the wand, the wand would manifest itself in the form best suited to its master.

He knew one particular individual who yearned so desperately for that wand and would do anything in his power to obtain it: Ludo. Yet, to Marco's knowledge, no one like Ludo had ever held or wielded the power of the wand aside from the Butterfly royal family.

 _Well. There's Lobster Claws_ , Marco thought, remembering Ludo's rather dimwitted crustacean minion.

Lobster Claws was able to hold the wand after he grabbed it from Star during a staged fight between him and her. Marco remembered seeing what the wand became when it was in Lobster Claws'...claws. The wand turned into a demonic form with a piercing eye in lieu of the star at the crest and the wand's angel wings turned into thorny ones.

Luckily, the crisis was averted when Marco took action, and kicked the wand out of Lobster Claws' claws, thus returning the wand back to its rightful owner, Star Butterfly.

Marco stared at the wand. He imagined that it would start glowing and burst into power. It didn't.

 _I should take a closer look_ , he thought. Yet again, he restrained himself from moving as he reconsidered his thoughts. _Maybe I should just go back_.

 _No. I'm just gonna look at it._

Marco felt conflicted, and he was unsure why he was feeling this right now, at this moment. He glanced at Star, still sleeping. _She looks cu_ -

 _What! Stop!_ He scrunched his hair, trying to get ahold of himself. Frustrated, Marco decided to take the initiative as he did when he was at Star's door, and approached the wand. Standing less than a meter away from both the wand and Star, he couldn't help but look at Star.

Her breathing was still composed and graceful as ever, and her body was still tucked around the pillow. Marco felt the urge to touch her but resisted, turning his attention toward the wand.

There it was, in all its splendor and majesty. The wand whose possession was only worthy to its master sound asleep in bed. Just as he felt the urge to touch Star, he felt the perverse desire to hold the wand. A dark feeling engulfed Marco and he began trembling.

 _This is wrong. This is wrong._

 _Take it! Just for a second._

Marco grimaced and remembered the demonic entity that manifested itself in him when Star accidentally casted him a tentacle arm. Was that what was feeding him these corrupting thoughts?

 _I won't. Never! Leave me alone!_

He turned around, clenching his fists, and rushed towards the door, fleeing from the temptation that lured him to the wand and hoping he wouldn't succumb.

Before he took a step into the hallway, a voice called his name. This time, it wasn't in his thoughts. It was Star.

"Marco?" she asked inquisitively, yawning. Marco had dreaded this moment and now, he had to face her without an answer or an explanation for why exactly he showed up in her room.

"What are you doing?" Star said, this time sterner, now fully awake.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** I hope to release the next chapter soon but in the meantime, please leave behind your suggestions or comments. I _am_ going to make the events that took place during Blood Moon (a specific one in mind) a central part of this story and there'll be plenty of dialogue in the next chapter-that's for sure ;) Bear with me!


	2. Chapter 2: Frustration

**Editor's Note:** I did this on the phone and wanted to do it right away. Thanks for the encouraging reviews!

* * *

Marco slowly turned around, his face filled with utter shame and blushing redder than a cayenne pepper. Before he could manage to speak a word, Star asked again, this time confused.

"Marco...what were you doing in my room," Star said, squinting her eyes. She looked dazed, having been awoken too soon at only 1:45 in the morning.

Marco could not help but be touched by her homely appearance with her frizzy hair all over the place. Finally, he began explaining himself, hoping his words could disarm Star's suspicions and neutralize this entire embarrassing moment.

"I...I was checking if you were still awake because I...uh, well see," Marco muttered, hating himself because he really had no real valid reason or excuse. "...I was here because I...just wanted to?"

 _No! That was stupid!_ Marco angrily thought, giving himself a mental slap to the head for such a horribly executed response.

Star was not amused in the least bit and hissed, "Marco–get out and go to bed you weirdo! No one just comes into people's room like that!" She flung her pillow at him, hitting straight on his chest. Marco caught it, and it felt warm, all cozy and snug thanks to Star.

"Er—give it back!" Star cried, realizing she needed it to go back to sleep comfortably. In the dimly lit room, Marco could see she was also blushing, her heart-toted cheeks entirely flushed with a subtly red hue.

Marco tossed the pillow back at Star and sighed, "I'm sorry Star. I just, I dunno–wanted to make sure my best friend was doing fine and not like, in danger or something..."

Star laughed and said, "Oh Marco Diaz, you're such a 'safe kid'–Marco you know I can handle myself! C'mon, I'm safe here and I think I can kick some monster butt any hour of the day." She gave a small smile, and tilted her head at Marco with reassurance.

"Trust me," she said softly, looking down at her pillow. "Remember what I said last week too? How I needed a friend and not a–"

"Hero," Marco finished.

"Right," Star nodded, still staring at her pillow. "Well you have to believe me when I meant that and I know you did." She looked up and pointed to her wand.

"This baby here's all I got to have no worries," she said, picking it up. It suddenly lit up, glowing and bringing light to the room. "Without it then, I'll still be able to protect myself. My daddy and the guards–they taught me how to fight and kill monsters _without_ magic!" She looked at Marco, and laughed again. "Here, if you feel so worried about me, give me a hug to let you know I'm fine."

Marco felt overwhelmed when she offered the hug, and bear hugged sooner before she could extend her arms.

"OOF!" Star heaved, pushing Marco away. "Easy on those hugs. Excited much?"

"Sorry!" Marco gasped, releasing himself from her. "I didn't mean to hug that hard!" He was lucid, adrenaline was coursing through every inch of his body.

"Marco, Marco–what'd I do without ya?" Star giggled, teasingly pushing away. "Now go to sleep." She let out a hearty yawn and kicked her feet up, and shooed Marco off of her bed.

"We can talk more tomorrow. We have a test tomorrow too anyways," she said, turning her back from him.

Marco stared down at her long hair and looked at it longingly. _She looks charming._

Marco stood up from her bed, and walked out but not without bidding Star a simple, "G'nite Star."

"Night," Star mumbled.

* * *

"Oooh when will we just get back there and take that waaand?!" shrieked Ludo, pounding the table. He threw a fit, as would a toddler would if his mother refused to give him ice cream. Ludo frustratingly toyed with his skeleton mantle, and let out a forced sigh.

"In due time my friend," Toffee said, sipping a cup of swampy water. "We will when the time perchance calls it."

"But it has to happen one of these days! GAH, I thought you were an evil efficiency expert! Let's put these idiots into shape now!" Ludo cried, pointing at his hopeless crew.

"That hurt feelings very much," Buff Frog said disappointingly, on the verge on tearing up.

"Yeah, Ludo, that was uncalled for," said Spike Balls.

"Oh shut up! You're all failures and without me, you'd have NOTHING! I give you everything and all I ask in return is to defeat a teenager girl and—GET—THAT—WAND!" He fumed, jumping up the table and kicking off plates and utensils, unleashing his fury upon his helpless army.

"Ludo, I advise you to take a seat and cool down," Toffee said, offering a hand to Ludo.

"BUT THE WAND! I NEED IT!" Ludo foamed, gritting his beak.

"And believe me, we will have it soon. Give it time and it shall be yours," Toffee consoled, stroking his chin.

"For a good part of my life, all I wanted was that wand! It'll show all the boys back at Mewni High who the real monster is! And momma. Momma would be proud if only I conquered just ONE world. Is it too hard to ask?" Ludo lamented, sitting down and moping.

"Patience will be generously rewarded. Today, you sit here but tomorrow..." Toffee pulled open the curtains to reveal the distant royal palace. "Tomorrow there."

"Really! We'll be there tomorrow?!" Ludo cried with joy.

"I only meant figuratively really. Realistically speaking, it may take weeks or months, maybe years pragmatically."

"PRAGMA–I WANT RESULTS NOW! NOW! NOW!" Ludo screamed, howling with anger and shaking his tiny fists in the air.

"At this rate, we may never attain that wand," Toffee said gravely, staring down at Ludo with disapproval. "Your tantrums prove you are ill-fit for world domination at this present state."

Ludo glared at Toffee and yelled, "I HIRED YOU LIZARD FACE. I can–"

"What?" Toffee snorted, smiling wryly. " _Fire me_? Go ahead

and fire me."

"YOU'RE FIRE–"

"You can't possibly fire me because you and I know that without professional help such as myself to assist you–your hopes for ever getting that wand is next to zero my friend. Be careful now."

Ludo snarled and mumbled, "Be careful...BAH!"

"In the meantime, yes. We will whip your minions into shape. We have nothing but time at our side before we are able to defeat the girl and her friend."

"Then power?" Ludo asked, his face beaming.

"Then power," Toffee nodded solemnly.

"You hear that boys? Power!" The whole room nodded in agreement and shouted praises to Ludo.

"Ludo Master strong!" Buff Frog cried.

"Ludo you will be king!" Bearicorn cheered.

"We'll be unstoppable," Deer Beard cried, flexing his muscles.

"Can I go the restroom!" Lobster Claws shouted in the midst of the yelling. "I need to wee wee!"

The room grew dead silent.

"Dammit. Just go. Just go you absolute failure!" Ludo barked bitingly, sharply gesturing the poor lobster out of the room.

"I was holding it for a few hours," Lobster Claws watered up. As soon as he finished speaking, one of the monsters next to him shrieked in disgust.

"He's peeing right on the floor!"

"NO! GET HIM OUT NOW! You're like a baby! Out!" Ludo hissed, shocked and repulsed. "And I just paid for that new carpet."

"I am sure the contractors would be happy to oblige us a free new carpet. Covered through the warranty–I'll call them straight away."

"YES! YES! Please, please save me from this hell I call life!"

"Believe me," Toffee said, patting Ludo assuredly. "You know nothing the suffering I've been through. Be glad the worst of your troubles can be a soiled carpet."

Ludo was tempted to say another word, but judging Toffee's face, he decided to leave him be.

"We will be in the training room so be there when Beard Deer gets his antlers stuck between the dumbbells. Stupid stupid."

"I will," Toffee replied, looking back at the palace from the window.

After Ludo had left, Toffee walked down the Grand Hallway alone with the cup of swamp water still in his claws. Swishing the cockroach bit between his teeth, he gargled and spat out of the windows. He chucked the glass out, let out a sigh, and continued his way down the hallway.

He reached the stairway, which led up to his room. The wing of this castle was rarely used and so Ludo allowed Toffee to set up his quarters in one of its rooms. Alone, Toffee was able to rest in peace at night and keep to himself during his studies. Reaching towards the end of the second floor hallway, he got out his key and opened the door to his chamber.

He locked it again as soon as he came in and tossed it onto his heirloom desk. His room was bare, with the stone wall aging and riddled with mildew and gray smut. A simple cot laid on the ground without a pillow was all that served Toffee at night. There was no candle in the room but at the wall directly in front of door was a mirror. It had several cracks and was blurry, fogged with age as would eyes with cataracts. Toffee walked closer and blew the dust that settled along its frame.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall. Call the Great One," Toffee said. An image began to appear on the mirror before it finally manifested itself into a spectral apparition. Dark mists shrouded the figure from clear view but its eyes gleamed a dark red and seemed to reach beyond the glass film of the mirror. " _M'lord_."

"Toffee. Have you any news?"

"Not at the moment, no," Toffee said indifferently.

"Then why have you asked for me? I allowed this mode of correspondence to be used sparingly, " the figure hissed.

"I understand m'lord. But I want to talk about my– _our_ client, Ludo."

"I am listening," the figure replied.


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast

**Author's Note:** This chapter will start to advance the plot and contains some important details. Once again, I am touched by all of the reviews and hope you have all been enjoying it. As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, always feel free to share!

* * *

The very first thing that Marco noticed when he opened his eyes was the smell of burnt pancakes and his parents rambling downstairs. He looked at the clock, and saw that it read 7:03.

 _I won't be late to school then_ , he thought to himself, relieved. Marco got up from bed, took a shower, brushed his teeth, and changed into his signature red hoodie and dark gray pants. He stepped out into the hallway and saw that Star's door was wide open. Before he was about to walk over there, he heard Star downstairs laughing alongside his parents.

He ran down the stairs to the kitchen and saw pancakes and waffles flying out in all directions. Carefully, he walked in before ducking when a particularly large waffle zipped by it.

"Buenos dias Marco!" his parents cheered, extending their arms to hug him.

"Marco, Star used her magic to create this cute rabbit that can shoot breakfast foods out of its mouth! It's not disturbing at all," Mr. Diaz said gleefully, bending down to watch a tiny bunny hop about on the table. It spat out a piece of cooked bacon which landed directly on an empty plate.

"You should try it!" Mr. Diaz encouraged, pushing the plate towards Marco. The bacon was covered in rabbit slime and looked just about as unappealing as it was when it propelled out of the bunny's mouth.

Marco sneered, but he looked up, seeing the expectant faces of his parents and...Star who sat directly in front of him. Her eyes were beaming, grinning so much her cheeks puffed up, just like the bunny scuttling on the table. "Try it! Try it Marco ooo, it's so good!"

With an unsure face, he decided to trust his best friend and parents and took a bite out of the strip. It was a respectable, balanced combination of salty and sweet although the texture could be improved on, given it had a syrup complexion–almost like chewing raw aloe vera.

"It's...good?" he smiled softly, swallowing his bite.

"That's good! Praise the breakfast bunny! Yay!" Star cheered, clapping enthusiastically, petting the bunny which continued to belch out various breakfast foods.

"I guess I no longer have to cook...if the bunny can do enchiladas," Mrs. Diaz laughed.

"Or chilaquiles!" Mr. Diaz piped in, chomping down on an omelet topped with salsa and portabello mushrooms.

"I'll...uh, just have some classic milk and cereal," Marco told them honestly, pushing his dish aside.

"More for me!" Mr. Diaz chuckled, snatching Marco's bacon and devouring it in one fearsome gulp. "Ayyy—¡Es delicioso!"

Star leaned forward and turned the rabbit around towards her, with its posterior facing straight at Marco. "Want cereal?" she giggled.

Marco gave a horrified look and gestured the bunny away. "NO! I'm fine!"

Star laughed, stroking the bunny on its back and said, "Oh I was only joking about that."

Marco laughed uneasily, nauseated at the thought of eating magical pellets for breakfast. "Yeah, a...uh something from the pantry will do."

He grabbed a bowl, and looked for his favorite cereal in the pantry closet. _Frostee-O's_ , more concentrated sugar per flake than our leading competitors!

"Could you make a lunch bunny and a dinner one?" Mr. Diaz asked, gobbling up the last of the bunny's foodstuffs. The bunny looked exhausted, and with the flick of the wrist, Star had the bunny whisked away to her tower vault.

"I'll try. That sounds like a great idea!" she smirked, bopping the wand against the table.

 _The wand!_

 _These thoughts are still here_. Marco was infuriated, he did not want to be bothered with these negative ideas and voices going through his head.

 _I know you're there! Stop that!_

 _You cannot deny a part of yourself._

"Marco, you're spilling the milk!" Mrs. Diaz shouted, pointing out Marco's overflowing bowl of cereal and the steady flow of milk trickling down onto the floor.

"Oh geez!" Marco sighed, placing the bowl down and getting a napkin to clean up the mess.

"Daydreaming or not enough sleep hmm Marco?" Mrs. Diaz intrigued, helping him with the spill.

"He came to my room last night," Star said nonchalantly, squatting down with them and looking.

Marco stuttered, "I-it wasn't for any-"

"Marco, were you scared of the dark?" Mrs. Diaz teased, laughing. "Did Star scare the monsters away?"

"Mom! It's not like that! Honest!" Marco cried embarrassingly. Star and Mrs. Diaz laughed.

"No Diaz family is ever scared of the dark!" Mr. Diaz cried confidently, raising a fist into the air in a triumphant pose.

"You sleep with a night light sometimes," Marco quipped.

"Oh that's your mother," Mr. Diaz brushed off, darting his eyes away.

"I always turn it off," Mrs. Diaz sighed, wringing the napkin over the sink.

"You should just keep it on!" Mr. Diaz cried, burying his face between his large hands.

"You have a test today kids?" Mrs. Diaz asked, as she consoled her traumatized husband.

"Ugh, yes," Marco sighed as he sat down with his bowl of cereal. He looked at Star and said, "I think we're ready for this math test."

"I didn't study," Star admitted, toying her wand. "But who has time for that!"

"Star, you're failing class," Marco said concerned. "What would your parents think about that."

"Pssh," Star giggled. "I came here to practice magic, not learn about for...for _moo_ ,"

"Formulas," Marco finished.

"Yeah! Those things," Star chimed. She whipped out her dimensional scissors and shook them in front of Marco. "What'd ya say we go on an adventure after school?"

"What dimension this time?" Marco asked. He was actually growing tired of interdimensional traveling, preferring to slow things down for a while. He wanted to tell Star about the thoughts he had begun having, and more importantly, talk to her more about what happened last week.

"Oh, I'll think about it!" Star smiled. "We can try out new spells there too anyways!"

"Yeah, that'll be cool," Marco went along, taking a spoonful of cereal.

 _The wand will be mines_. He frowned, smacking his head. Star noticed that and stared at him suspiciously.

"Marco, let's talk more about...last night on the bus," Star whispered with a concerned look. "That was pretty weird you being there."

Marco closed his eyes and soberly nodded, munching on his cereal. "I've been meaning to anyways."

"Okay," Star replied, clasping her hands together. "Remember Marco. I'm always here for ya. Whatever bothers you, I'm here."

"What's going on you two?" Mr. Diaz butted in, slamming his fist on the table. The force of the pound startled both of the friends, who at first thought they were in trouble.

"I want to talk about the things young people talk these days," Mr. Diaz grinned.

"Dad. No, please stop," Marco cringed.

"Chico please! The co-workers always talk so cool and it's because they hang out with their kids all the time. I want to be the cool dad!" Mr. Diaz begged.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Marco facepalmed, flustered.

"It's 7:35 now. Go kids, or you'll be late for the bus!" Mrs. Diaz called out, pointing towards the door.

"Oh! Let's go!" Marco said, tapping Star quickly before grabbing his backpack.

"Okay! Coming!" Star said, trailing after him.

"Bye keeeds! Have fun. Do well on that test! Come home early if you guys can!" Mrs. Diaz exclaimed, waving them goodbye.

"Don't worry mom, we'll be fine," Marco said.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Diaz!" Star cried, waving cheerfully as she skipped out of the house.

When they reached a reasonable distance between them and the house, Star placed her hand on Marco's shoulder. "So tell me Marco. What's up?"

"I don't know Star," Marco mumbled, kicking a stone into the street. "I've just been thinking a lot of things lately."

"Oh? Like what?" Star asked, parting her hair which was obstructing her vision.

"The Blood Moon. Tom. The dance...Us," Marco said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Star pressed on. Marco didn't want to speak any further on this matter but he knew, he had to.

"I don't know. Don't you feel any different since that night? I know I have," Marco said.

Star didn't say a word, but continued looking at him, implying that he continue explaining.

"Like, I've just–I can't explain it," Marco said, giving Star a doubtful look.

"So how come you were in my room?" Star asked. "I woke up, saw you run. What was that?"

 _The wand._

"The wand," Marco said with a low voice. He fumbled his fingers and stared down the sidewalk.

"Marco, what do you mean 'the wand'? This old thing?" Star said, poking the wand at Marco's cheek.

A sudden jolt of pain tore through the spot the wand had contact with Marco's cheek and he fell back, crying in pain. "OW! THAT HURT!"

Star panicked and bent down, trying to examine Marco's cheek. It looked like it was burned as it was a pronounced shade of bright pink. Tears leaked out of his eyes and rushed down his face.

"Marco! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

With a contorted expression, Marco managed to sit up straight, rubbing his cheek. "It doesn't hurt anymore." He wiped his eyes and got back up, brushing dirt off of his pants and hoodie.

Star picked up the wand and examined it closely, wondering what caused Marco's attack.

"It's the wand," Marco said exasperatedly, stepping away from it. "Th-th-there's thoughts inside me. It tells me to take it. That I should try using it."

Star looked at Marco in disbelief and tucked away her wand into her satchel. "Marco, I don't know what just happened but...let's pretend this didn't happen. I'll keep it away from you for your own good okay?"

"Yeah. It would help," Marco said, feeling his cheek. It was cool again. Earlier, his cheek felt like it was zapped with a burst of electrical energy, overwhelming his senses and temporarily blinding him. The rush of energy was too much, and it was beyond terrifying.

"But Star," Marco said as they began walking again.

"Hmm?"

"I think it's him. He's still there," Marco moaned.

"You don't mean…" Star said with a grave look. "The tentacle arm?"

"He told me he'll always be a part of me right?" Marco said, placing a hand at his heart.

"I think I know where we should go to after school then," Star said. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks Star," Marco said, still trembling from the experience.

Star gave Marco a side hug as they approached the bus stop.

* * *

" _Your Majesty_. _Your Royal Highness_ ," Manfred, one of the royal courtiers, said, bowing before the King and Queen of Mewni. "The diplomats representing the Ducal Lands of Sumner would wish to know if their presence in the Royal Court would be accepted.

"Yes, yes. Bring them them know that they are always welcome here in the Court," Queen Butterfly said.

"As you wish my queen," Manfred bowed once more, before making his way out of the court.

"Another foreign dignitary? We have too many of those these days!" King Butterfly sighed, leaning against the throne's armrest.

"All these kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities...from all dimensions. All asking for the hand of our daughter. It's as if they anticipate our deaths this early!" the Queen scoffed, adjusting her hair.

"I'll have the Privy Council change the laws just to stop them from coming," the King said before quickly adding, "If I could that is."

"They never listen. What inconvenience it brings to have such an inefficient little institution," the Queen said, applying makeup on her face.

"Give them due credit dear. They help run this kingdom rather smoothly," the King reminded.

"Ah yes, but what does it make of us? All we do is sit up straight and wave for show. It's a whole circus," the Queen said dissatisfied. "If only Star knew what a life she'll have once she becomes Queen."

"She will understand as we have learned to over the years," the King said.

"Thirty long, grueling years of learning," the Queen said dreadfully, resting her hands on her lap. "And here they come."

Mewni royal guards came in and blew their bugles, announcing the arrival of the royal foreigners. A group of colorfully robed officials came in with a standard-bearer leading them, waving the Kingdom of Sumner's royal standard topped with two free-flowing pennons.

At the very end, a noble beautifully decorated with medals and ribbons of the Sumner chivalric orders from head to toe marched down the court. Donning a spectacle and gray whiskers, the noble was balding, an indication that he passed his prime.

"The Duke of Sumner. What an absolute pleasure having you here," the Queen welcomed, standing up and curtsying.

The King joined her and offered his salutations by offering a simple nod. "Indeed, welcome."

"And an absolute pleasure for I," the Duke of Sumner said, bowing. "The Kingdom as I suspected, is looking as charming as ever."

"If it is to be understood, the point of your visit here today is…" the Queen began.

"Oh, you are quite familiar with today's course of affairs," the Duke answered, clapping his hands.

One of the Sumnerlian servants pulled a portrait out of the bag and gave it to the Duke. The Duke, taking a good look at it, smiled and walked towards the Royal Throne.

Genuflecting, he waited for one of the Mewni servants to take the portrait and present it to the royal couple. "Behold. My son, the young Baron of Sumner, Ferdinand whom I believe, is a qualified, and eligible suitor to the princess."

The Queen, unimpressed with the artwork and the appearance of the Duke's son, hid her dissatisfaction, and said, "Ah yes. A very...fine gentleman he is turning out to be."

"Does it please you Your Royal Highness?" the Duke asked, still staring down at the floor. He brought the King's attention, asking, "Your Majesty?"

The King, not only expecting better for his daughter but tired of all the pomp and circumstance, boldly stated, "My daughter cannot possibly be betrothed to a young man who dares not show his real face in the Palace."

"His...his real face?" the Duke asked confusedly.

"Tell me Your Grace. Are artists paid reasonably in the Ducal Lands or must you hire an oaf from the slums to paint up this disgrace. Or is your son truly this disfigured?"

The Duke stood up, fuming and wagged his finger at the King. "You speak slander to the House of Sumner! Let it be known this personal attack against the Baron and the Ducal Lands shall not be forgotten!"

"Know your place," the King shot back sharply. "Who is King and who is but a duke?"

The Duke calmed down, although still visibly angry. "I understand Your Majesty. If...I may?"

"You may," the King said and the Duke bowed, and signalled his entourage to prepare on leaving.

"We will arrange another day, another time," the Duke said, polishing the portrait of his son before handing it over to a servant. "Perhaps, when the Baron arrives, I pray take it that the princess too will be here. I believe it may be more appropriate if the two met in person."

"Indeed," the King said indifferently.

"Well, if I may ask though," the Duke said, pointing a finger up.

"You are free to ask," the King permitted, rolling his eyes and tapping his armrest.

"Where is the princess?" the Duke inquired.

"That is none of your concern although if you were well-caught up with the affairs of the Court, you would have known. Now, if you may please," the King said. The Duke nodded, hiding his annoyance underneath and bowed once more before leaving.

"Safe travels!" the Queen called out to the Sumnerlians. As soon as they left, the Queen and the King chortled.

"Good riddance," the King snorted.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** I will try making chapters as long as this, if not longer more often. The next one will go back to the secret antics of Toffee and more characters (both canon/OC) will be introduced! As always, thanks for all the support! :)


	4. Chapter 4: Mirror

**Author's Note:** Here's a shorter chapter continuing Toffee's talk with the mirror entity. I went to a party with some spare time and decided to get this out of the way. I hope you all enjoy it although frankly, if I had more time, it'd be much more developed. I will definitely compensate it in the next few chapters, especially develop more of Toffee's backstory.

* * *

The apparition on the mirror glowed through the mists that continued to form and whirl around it. With a clear, affirmative voice, it declared, "Tell me all that there is needed to be known."

Toffee cleared his throat, and adjusted his tie, before beginning his case. "Ludo. Are you sure he is the one we should be investing our time and attention with?"

"Do you doubt the preeminence of the Great One?" the voice rumbled angrily.

"I do not," Toffee said, lowering his head in respect as a reassurance of respect. "But I would like to know what potential you see in him. Why can't I seize the wand myself?"

"If it were that simple, I would be free from this curse!" the Great One bellowed, causing the walls to shake violently and the mirror to wobble. Toffee kneeled on the ground, and bowed before him.

"Oh Great One, use me as your humble servant. Give me your blessing and the power to endure the trials ahead," Toffee prayed, worshipping the spirit.

"Your praises mean nothing to me if I am unable to be unbounded," the Great One said, the mirror blackening into a thicker cloud of smoke. Its red eyes still burned through the smoke, turning brighter than ever. "When I am restored, I shall rebuild Mewni anew and cleanse it for its sins."

Toffee continued bowing, and chanting softly, "Let that day come sooner!"

"You know your mission," the Great One said. "Through Ludo, you will restore honor to your family name, and your people. Redeem yourself and unleash me and you shall be venerated and feared for a thousand years."

Toffee stood up and went to the heirloom desk, and opened the drawer. Inside was a painting of himself in happier years, along with sketches of his land and his family. Delicately moving it aside, he found two thin sticks of incense and closed the drawer.

Returning, he sat down in the lotus position, and placed the sticks on the ground. "If only I had not thrown my cup away," Toffee sighed. "Forgive me O Great One."

"You are forgiven," the Great One replied, the mists around dissipating and revealing only two red orbs of light glaring through the mirror.

Picking up both candles, Toffee closed his eyes, exhaled, and out came a plume of fire which instantly set the candles ablaze. The smoke from the incense rose to the ceiling slowly before it began to orbit around Toffee, turning into a condensed cloud-like ring. It descended gradually, before the smoke gravitated towards the mirror.

The smoke was slowly absorbed into the mirror, and the Great One gave out an appeased rumble. "Saffron," the Great One said.

"For you O Great One," Toffee bowed, placing the dying candles on the floor.

"Release me soon. Until then, we shall meet again," the Great One said, before the smoke in the mirror and the Great One's orbs faded away. After a while, Toffee stood up, and stared at the mirror. He saw his own reflection.

He stared at his scaly skin and his reptilian eyes. Opening his mouth, he peered at his sharp fangs and teeth, and his serpentine tongue. He stared at his right hand, and saw his snubbed finger. _I am disgusting._ He brushed his well-combed hair and sighed.

Toffee turned away, unable to continue looking at himself, and went to the window. His room on this side of the castle stood atop a jagged, barren mountain that gradually descended into a vast valley down below. Down there, lied the Forest of Certain Death where all the vilest creatures and beasts of Mewni lurked on the floor and in the canopy.

 _Except it wasn't always like this_ , Toffee solemnly thought, staring deep into the abyss. He tried looking for the spot in the forest that used to lead to his home underground. It had been so long. He feared the day that he would finally forget what life was like before it all changed.

 _The Butterflys,_ he clenched his claws and opened up the drawer with the paintings. He picked one of them up and examined it. It was still in a pristine condition. There he was, a young teenage boy, a young teenager _human_ boy. He had hazel hair and brown eyes, and his teeth...his teeth was normal. Nothing sharp, just a normal grin, a normal smile.

 _Simpler days_ , Toffee soberly thought to himself, placing the painting back into his drawer and adjusting his tie.

He went back downstairs, walking alone in solitude, musing about his past life. He had spent many fortnights in introspection, wondering about himself and his future. Toffee trusted in the Great One, and hoped that one day, all those who had wronged him would be punished. Justice would finally be served and Toffee would be its vindicator.

As it was told by the Great One, there really only stood one real obstacle to their plan. _The princess_. If the course of events fell according to plan, all would be well. Toffee hoped it would work. He believed it would, as he had sacrificed enough in his life going this far.

"Toffee! Where are you!" a nasally voice shrieked down the hall. Toffee ran, rushing urgently to answer the call. At the end of the hallway, he saw Ludo walking aimlessly around the hall.

"Ah! Toffee, there you are. Where were you?" Ludo said, grinning.

"I was walking around, thinking to myself," Toffee said, not revealing his session with the Great One.

"Oh that's great. Now Toffee," Ludo said, grabbing Toffee's hand. "Looked who showed up at our gates! Guess. Guess who!"

Toffee, curious, lifted an eye up and told Ludo, "I don't particularly enjoy mind games. Who is it?"

"No! No, that would ruin the fun see?" Ludo chuckled.

Toffee half-seriously answered, "Star Butterfly?"

"Oh! If only!" Ludo said disappointedly with an honest face. "No, but a guard from the St. Olga's Reformatory School came and he's waiting outside. He's deciding to help us but I need you to see for yourself if he's trustworthy."

"St. Olga's you say?" Toffee asked, stroking snout. "Give me a glass of swamp water and I'll take a look of him."

 _It is all falling into order_ , he thought to himself.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** At the time I write this, it's the night before the St. Olga's episode premiers so I will definitely try to incorporate some of new information from that episode in the story. I decided that this story line will be an AU that deviates from the canon story line following Freeze Day/Royal Pain so anything occurring post-Royal Pain will not necessarily be accounted for. As always, please leave behind your comments and suggestions!


	5. Chapter 5: Omega

**Author's Note (August 10, 2015):** Here's another chapter, the plot slowly unraveling itself and the tides of uncertainty churning! The first half is mostly a filler although there are some minor details you may want to take note on. Some of you, at the end of this chapter, may already figure out what might happen next, but there is more to it. Also, TONIGHT'S the new episode! I'm excited, but in the meantime, enjoy!

* * *

The bus pulled over, coming to a screeching halt and the door swung open, the sound of loud chattering and laughing bursting out. Giving each other a glance, Marco and Star boarded the bus, and took their usual seat together near the back end of the bus.

"Hey Marco! Star!" whispered Ferguson from the seat ahead. "Did you guys study for the test?"

"I did," Marco replied, giving him a nod.

"Oh! Okay, can we review over them?" he asked, pressing his fingers together.

"You really should have studied last night," Marco said, shaking his head. "Star, do you-"

"Nope," she said, shrugging. "Sorry Ferguson."

"I just need to know what will be on the test!" Ferguson pleaded. "Without Alfonso around anymore, I don't have anyone to study with!"

"Well you have us," Marco assured, smiling.

"Yeah but you aren't really helping me right now now are you," Ferguson squinted his eyes. His eyes darted back and forth at Marco and Star.

"You two...are always together...you know that? It's not even funny," Ferguson pouted. He pointed his pudgy finger at Marco, "We used to hang out but you never have time anymore!"

"Ferguson…" Marco said defensively. "I know what you're thinking. That _you_ think me and Starco are–"

"Yeah! Everyone can see it!" Ferguson said, his voice growing louder.

"That can't happen!" Star laughed, friendly slapping Ferguson's arm. For some reason, Marco felt bad upon hearing that statement, as though his body sank. It was almost as if, he thought, that he actually _did_ have some feelings for her.

Ferguson gave a look of disbelief, but seeing how aggressive he had become, gave a sigh. "I guess I'll fail the test. Just gonna...practice Spanish then... _Lo siento mi amigos_." With a disheartened face, he turned around and slumped back in his seat.

Star whispered into Marco's ear, "I feel kinda bad for him Marco. We should do something for him some time."

"Yeah," Marco said. Star's warm breath against his ear and her hair brushing against his cheek gave him a tender feeling inside. He hadn't really considered how close he and Star were. He looked and saw how close they were sitting next to each other, that he blushed before concealing his face by looking the other way.

"But him saying we're going out or something...that's annoying," Star complained, giving a dry laugh. "We're just really great, best friends!"

"Oh...yeah," Marco said detachedly, his eyes wandering off into space. _I think I might like her just a bit_. He admitted to himself, that Star was quite attractive and her personality was filled with energy, and she was kind, and she brought _danger_ into–

 _Oh what am I thinking?_ Marco thought, horrified by this.

"I mean, I looove that Oskar," Star said dreamily, clasping her hands together next to her cheek and leaning toward Marco.

 _Oskar!_ An impulsive rush of jealousy erupted inside Marco, holding every form of contempt and curse against Oskar. _That trashy keytar-playing scumbag!_

"And _you_ like Jackie!" Star said, interrupting Marco's inflammatory thoughts, snapping himself out of his rage. For a moment, Marco remembered his crush, and then was then reminded how long his infatuation with that girl had lasted. Since childhood, really. _I still like her right?_

Star jostled and playfully punched Marco's shoulder. "Oh where is she!" She stood up, and loudly whispered while pointing, "Oh! There she is!"

"Star! What are you doing?" Marco panicked, trying to get Star to sit back down. He glanced down the aisle and saw the familiar, distinct blonde hair poking from the top of a seat four rows down. It did a second or two for him to process in it, but he was then filled with the same feeling he had always felt for Jackie.

 _Yeah. I do,_ he thought, relieved. But a moment later, he realized he had this very _same_ feeling for Star a few seconds ago! He buried his face in shame, clearly ashamed and confused about these conflicting feelings.

Star, misinterpreting this to be Marco's shyness, slapped Marco's back and soothingly said, "Oh, you're gonna go out with her one day." Marco lifted up and looked at Star with only a solemn face and nodded. "You're a great guy and she'll totally be into you!"

"Well," Marco said. "I did break her skateboard."

"But you saved her and the school countless time with your ka-ra- _tay_!" Star pointed out, imitating martial art moves with her arms.

"True," Marco chuckled lightly. He looked back at Jackie and thought to himself, _Only her._ The last he wanted in his life was to be hopelessly in love with his best friend. He would rather be hopelessly in love with his childhood crush. That way, he'd at least _still_ have a best friend if things didn't work out, he reasoned.

"Mi amigos son mi enemigos ahora," grumbled Ferguson, although he did not intentionally say it aloud for Marco to hear.

"So," Marco said, giving attention back to Star who was making the window fog up to draw a heart. "How are you and…"

"Oh! I don't know!" Star said nervously, wiping the fog off and staring down at her skirt. "He's just _such_ a bad boy! I don't know if I'm his type."

"I'm sure you are, Star," Marco said encouragingly.

"But he seems so laid back and carefree. I bet he's dated countless of girls!" Star said aloud.

"What! Yeah, well he hasn't," someone shouted ahead, who somehow overheard them. Ignoring that remark, Star sighed.

"I just love to hear him play!" Star whined, while Marco replayed those godforsaken screeches Star somehow called "music". "He's a rockstar, and I'm his only faaaan…"

"You really do like his music don't you Star?" Marco asked, unable to comprehend what Star exactly did see in Oskar.

"Are you kidding!" Star laughed, pulling out her phone. "I got an entire playlist of his songs!"

"Play...list? He's uploaded stuff on Soundcloud?"

"What! No, I recorded some of his plays on here!" Star played one of the videos, showing a very shaky camera zooming in at Oskar playing his keytar atop a car. In the video, Star was breathing heavily and flailing like a fangirl. "Oh my God he's so perfect! Ahhh!"

Oskar began playing, and even through the horrible recorder, the phone emitted the particularly painful notes for all the bus to hear.

"Who's playing that crap!" someone shouted. Others joined in, writhing in despair.

Marco quickly tapped the phone, stopping the video and suggested to Star, "Maybe for another time huh?"

"Here's some _real_ music!" someone else said. "Yo, check out my mixtape, got a remix of _This is My House_ , shout out to the squad ONE NINE!"

It was Justin, who played a song of himself poorly rapping with a wobbly flow. Some whooped with amusement while others cringed in disgust.

"You kids better stop playing! District policy!" hissed the bus driver. "Turn off ya music and SIT _dowwwn_. I'll stop this bus if I hafta!"

Star and Marco looked at each other laugh, mocking the bus driver and Justin's raps for the rest of the trip. _Just us having a good time,_ Marco thought towards the end. _Nothing else_. He forgot everything that went wrong earlier, from going to Star's room, to spilling milk, to that painful attack at the sidewalk.

* * *

"He's right here!" Ludo squawked, pulling Toffee to the Grand Hall mezzanine where a robed individual sat idly on a bench. The individual looked up, revealing a mask and unhooded himself. He was rather squat and short, with a bulky build. Struggling to get off his seat, he walked up to Toffee with an extended arm to shake. Toffee shook the fellow firmly, noticing how the individual was barely taller than Ludo.

"Your name?" Toffee asked at the end of their handshake.

"I will go by my alias, Omega, to avoid suspicion," the individual said. His mask prevented anyone from telling his facial expression, thus, Toffee was unable to discern for himself whether or not if the man was trustworthy. His body expression and his enunciation was spot on however, and he presented himself to be quite professional. Toffee took note of this and smiled courteously.

"My client here says you desire to help us?" Toffee asked.

"That is correct. I come from the security division of St. Olga's and I have information that may be of interest to you...for a price however," Omega stated.

Toffee gave a look of disapproval, raising his eye and sighed, "Well then your loyalty would lie in money then?"

"Greed does not motivate me," Omega said firmly. "It is not money I want."

"Then what is it?" Toffee asked.

"Give him what he wants!" Ludo cried, trying to remain relevant in the conversation. Toffee gave Ludo a finger to indicate him to be quiet.

"When you defeat the girl, I want her head," Omega said candidly. "And the boy too, if we need it."

"Their heads?" Toffee said, a bit surprised, although he kept himself reserved, and coolly continued, "If it's heads you want, so be it."

"Then we are in agreement?" Omega asked.

"We are," Toffee said, crossing his arms.

"Their heads will be used for scientific research. Part of a project to produce more efficient, obedient princesses," Omega stated.

"To be frank, I am not one to be concerned with what you will do with their heads but now, the information you have promised?" Toffee asked.

"There is a conspiracy to overthrow the Kingdom where we will install...a new leader. The headmistress of St. Olga's, she has been thinking about this for quite some time now," Omega began. Toffee smiled, but allowed Omega to continue. "All of Mewni will be purged into chaos, and other kingdoms will be forced into the war. Using this time of confusion, you will step in, and unite the people in their time of trouble, and they will submit be it through choice…" He spoke the last words in a graver tone, "...or by _force_."

"Why does St. Olga desire a revolution? I thought it was a loyal institution of the Kingdom," Toffee said.

"We have grown dissatisfied with the reign of the Butterflys. You know what they have done," Omega said.

"Unfortunately, I have fallen victim to them," Toffee nodded, sighing. He tried to keep the thoughts of his past tucked back at this time.

"For too long have we stood by idly allowing their magic to devastate the people. No longer can we who have been sworn to uphold the stability of this world, to be further trampled upon by the Butterflys. Their era of oppression will soon come to an end," Omega said vindictively.

Toffee agreed but noted a flaw in Omega's plan. "If the School desires a revolution, and the root of the problem is the Butterflys' magic...why couldn't you have just kidnapped the princess, seize the wand, and begin the war prematurely? You have traveled to Earth several times for other princesses."

"Because," Omega said. "Because right now, it is not the wand we desire. She is untouchable."

"Untouchable?" Toffee said intrigued. "What do you suppose you mean by that?"

"Her wand exudes incredible strength and power like no other. She will use it when she achieves her fullest potential, wreaking havoc as her ancestors have done."

"As did her parents."

"As did her parents, yes."

"Then why can't we take it before it is too late? Why is she untouchable?"

"She...she is bound to a greater force."

"To whom?"

"We are unsure, but our soothsayer has received premonitions...of a dark lord and his bride, bringing utter destruction across all dimensions. We believe that the princess will partake in the annihilation as that bride."

"A dark lord…and his bride?"

"Of the most demonic and cruelest kinds."

Toffee was visibly distressed, turning his back away. _This has changed everything! Everything is ruined!_

"But this is why we must focus what happens here," Omega continued. "We will lure them into Mewni, destroy their bond, and do away with them as soon as possible. When it is finished, we will need our new king."

Ludo jumped up and down, crying with joy, having dozed off earlier, completely bored with Omega and Toffee's discussion. "Me! Me! I will become King! The overlord!"

Toffee nodded. "We shall overcome, Omega."

Omega grunted in agreement. "We shall."

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** Most chapters, I've decided will run like this, with two different events/settings (one with Star and Marco, and the other with whomever is important). If you're looking for some fighting scenes, those will becoming up! As for the fluff and the feels, I'm not sure if that point in time is ready yet, sorry :( As always, leave your reviews and let me know what I can do improve on or if I'm doing a great job!


	6. Chapter 6: Expulsion

**Author's Note (August 11, 2015)**

WOW! That episode was really amazing and it appears that Star Vs. The Forces of Evil _will_ be taking the direction of depth that other shows such as Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, and Steven Universe have! So many foreshadowing, crucial details, and a new villain! Now I realize, this story isn't so far off from what might happen in the canon! I hope everyone has recovered from those server problems with this site. Without further ado, brace yourselves!

* * *

The bus came to a stop, and the students began making their way out. Star and Marco waited for the aisle to clear up before standing up, but not before Ferguson blocked their way, glaring at them.

"No. _After_ you," he grumbled spitefully, getting out of the way and sarcastically pointing the way out.

"Ferguson. You don't have to be like this," Marco said with a disappointed face, as he and Star walked on.

"I don't want to hear about it anymore," Ferguson retorted, strapping onto his backpack.

"Marco, let's just go," Star whispered, tugging Marco by the arm. Hesitantly, Marco left with Star, wondering how his friendship with Ferguson had deteriorated so quickly in a matter of a few poorly-chosen wording.

"We should give him some time alone," Star said hushed, trying to not let their angry friend hear. "What's with all these crazy things happening these days?"

"I don't know, Star," Marco said unsure, as they boarded off the bus. "I wished I knew."

"Same," Star sighed. "And I'm still worried about what happened earlier."

"I know," Marco said gravely, shuddering at the thought of the pain that shocked him earlier. "I just want to get to the bottom of this and just move on with life."

"Together," Star smiled warmly, patting Marco on the back.

"Together," Marco smiled, his heart was beating hard again but this time, he didn't care whether it was because he liked her as a friend or more. He was just glad Star had shown that she could be serious and caring at times, when he needed her most.

Ferguson walked by, scowling.

"You know, we really do need to do something about him after we fix you up," Star said, tutting and folding her arms.

"Yeah."

"Oh! Look!" Star gleefully gushed, pointing vigorously and jumping up and down. The hearts on her cheeks swelled as she squealed with delight.

"What?" Marco said, excited, surveying the school scene ahead. His excitement quickly died as it came, when he saw who Star was raving over.

 _That bastard!_ Marco glared at Oskar, who was leaning on the hood of the car he was always at. To no one's surprise, Oskar was clutching his keytar, mindlessly thumbing the keys away with absolute disregard for those around him.

"Star," Marco began, expecting to grab Star by the arm. Instead, he saw her zip by him, and flocking towards Oskar, filled with admiration and teenage infatuation.

"Oh. _Of course_ ," Marco frowned, feeling a bit hurt.

 _She's mines and no one else deserves her! What does he have that I don't? I'm always by her side and always stick up for her!_

Marco recollected his thoughts and looked at Star again, this time nervously. _Do I really like her? This is just a phase right? I know it's you messing with me!_ He pinched himself, somehow hoping he'd come to his senses. He had just promised to himself earlier that he wouldn't like Star so how, he thought, did he so easily break it this fast? He came to the conclusion, that something really did happen that night at the Blood Moon.

 _The moon of lovers_ , he remembered, hearing that strange voice that convinced him to attend the ball. He remembered how bored he was that night, crushed that he was unable to attend the ball with his friend, and worried that she might have gotten herself in trouble with that suspicious ex-boyfriend of hers. Sitting alone, eating nachos, nachos meant for the _both of them_ , and then, as if fate demanded it, gave him an instruction to go to the ball.

He was glad he made the choice to go. It was the right decision, and he would never regret it, not in a million years he would. Donning the mask to conceal his identity, he arrived to the underworld dimension, not a moment sooner, and managed to find Star, through the crowd, cluelessly wandering across the dance floor, all alone...without a partner.

At the time, Marco didn't know what to expect, but he knew, all he wanted was to get Star out of that place. He cried out her name thrice: Star! _Star._ Star! Finally grabbing her by the hand, the deed had been done. Almost instantaneously, a bright red light shined down upon them, granting them its blessing and the crowd their undivided attention to the chosen couple of the night. If the legend held it true, he and Star were to be bound for all eternity as the demon announcer equivocally described a _hypnotic, ruby brodum_.

He could not truly appreciate or comprehend the effects of the light the blood moon cast down upon them that night. Not thinking at the time, he held her by the hand, and they danced. Charmed, tantalized, Star followed his lead, completely unaware of her partner. When he revealed his identity, the dance was over but in that moment, not even divine intervention was required to reveal to them that their bond was inseparable. _Or_...that was at least what Marco was beginning to realize.

 _She belongs to me_.

"Hey!" a voice called. Marco snapped back into reality, reabsorbing his surroundings, blinked and saw it was Jackie, who was clutching onto her skateboard. "You look down. Are you okay?"

"Oh," Marco said, fidgeting. He had never been approached by Jackie before like this. He instantly forgot about Star and weakly uttered, "I'm...I'm fine."

"Where's Star?" Jackie asked.

"O-over…" Marco shakily pointed to where Star was, who was trying to climb up the car to get better look at Oskar playing.

"You're shy aren't ya?" Jackie laughed. "Come on, let's get to class before the bell rings."

Marco was not only shocked, but confused. Once again, he saw how overwhelmed he was by the mere presence of his crush yet he could not also deny the new feelings he had developed for Star. Simultaneously experiencing two distinct feelings for another, Marco felt as though his body had been split into two persons, both with separate, irreconcilable differences.

Cautiously following Jackie, his eyes shifted back and forth at her and Star, unable to take a stand with. Ultimately, unable to see Star any longer with Oskar, ran up next to Jackie and decided to not look back. He had to fight it. What other choice did he have?

* * *

"Alright class! I don't care if you studied or not. You're all failures and you know it," growled Miss Skullnick, who sloppily tossed the test across everyone's desk. She stopped in front of Marco and narrowed her eyes. " _You_ will pass as usual though."

Marco looked up uneasily and nervously grinned. Miss Skullnick flopped the test down on his desk, and continued passing down the rest of the papers.

Star, who was sitting to the left at Marco, bit on her pencil, eyeing at one of the problems.

"Good luck," Marco whispered, as he began writing down his name on the test.

"Yeah, yeah I will," Star said dreamily. Her pencil moved wildly across the paper and Marco couldn't help but take a look at what Star was writing.

"NO CHEATING!" Miss Skullnick howled, running up to Marco. With a look of utter horror, Marco looked helplessly as his grotesque teacher pick up his paper and held it between her greasy hands.

"Please Miss Skullnick! I wasn't cheating!" Marco cried. The whole class stared, gasping and holding their mouths, in anticipation of Marco's automatic fail.

"I'll rip this up, along your dreams!" Miss Skullnick hissed, beginning to tear the paper slowly.

"NOO!" Marco shrieked, trying to grab the test back. "I need an A!"

"I'm a troll and my lover left me!" she snarled, grinning sadistically as he saw Marco quiver.

"Jellybean hallucination mist!" Star cried, holding her wand up. A blast of magical energy surged out of the wand and stunned Miss Skullnick, who let out a distraught scream as a cloud of mist smothered her face. Flailing her arms, she desperately try to get the mist to dissipate.

"I'm seeing things! Help!" she croaked, choking and coughing, before collapsing and passing out on the ground.

"Star!" Marco cried. "Why did you do that!"

The rest of the class cheered, throwing up their tests and hurling them at Miss Skullnick.

"You didn't deserve that!" Star said, placing her wand back into her satchel and stepping over Miss Skullnick. "Let's get out of here!" She let out a hand.

"Wait," Marco said. He bent down, tried avoiding touching Miss Skullnick's bulky arms, and grabbed his test which had been torn just a bit, but not enough to ruin it. Before he stood up, he saw Star's test, and quickly snatched it before stuffing both tests into his hoodie's pockets.

Just as the two were about to make a break for it, the classroom door burst open with Principal Skeeves walking in.

"You two!" he yelled, wagging his finger. "Have caused enough trouble to this school. Into my office! Now!"

"Are we...in trouble?" Marco squeaked, his face turning pale. He looked at the rest of his class, and saw Jackie shaking her head in disappointment.

"Yes!" Principal Skeeves barked. "Go!"

Together, Marco and Star walked down the hallway in shame as the principal following them, bickering about their repeated offenses against Echo Creek Academy including destruction of public property, endangerment of students and faculty, and multiple counts of disorderly conduct. This time, Skeeves told them, was their last straw.

In the office, he sat down with both of them separately, and interrogated them, probing their motivations and rationale behind all the problems they had caused to the school.

"Magic and monsters are no excuse to inappropriate behavior such as attacking a teacher and it will not be tolerated!" the principal told Star. "Not even money can persuade me to look away this time."

Finally, after intensive yelling and questioning, he called both of them back together. The two friends looked at each other miserably, hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. Principal Skeeves had his seat turned against them and without looking at them, said, "Marco. You used to have a clean record. No infractions, no detentions, no suspensions. Nothing."

Marco quietly whispered into Star's ear, trying to discredit Skeeves' claims, "I once got yelled at!"

Skeeves turned out and pointed directly at Star. "But _YOU_ have been a bad influence on him!"

Star shrunk in shame, and winced.

"You have contributed little to this academy and quite frankly, I am not sure if you are even attending school half the time," Skeeves said bitterly, clasping his hands together. "Look at this!"

He threw a green folder with a label that read in maroon ink, "Star Butterfly". With his index finger, he pushed it forward towards Star and Marco to see. "Take a look."

Star, knowing what it was, refused to open it. Marco decided to, and took it out. It was Star's report card, which was due to be sent home later that week. Marco stared with shock, everything, except PE, was an _F_. He knew Star never studied, but he never knew she was performing this poorly in class.

"Shocked? Disappointed? I know I am," Skeeves said in a low voice. "No student has done this horribly since 1996. And you want to know where that student is now? He makes a living by scooping trash out of the garbage can!"

Star's eyes began to water, and sniffled. Marco looked at her with a sad look, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"If you do not, Miss Butterfly, show any improvement by next week," Skeeves said sternly. "You will be expelled!"

"Expelled!" Marco blurted, standing up.

Skeeves frowned at him, replying, "Yes. She will be expelled and will no longer be welcome here at either this school, or any of the schools in the entire Echo Creek Unified School District."

Marco was beyond angry, with adrenaline pumping through his veins. If Star was expelled, she would almost surely be sent back to Mewni, and possibly to St. Olga's. This would mean, he may never see her again and he was not about to let it happen.

"One. Week!"

Star began wailing, covering herself as she sobbed, knowing full way that "improving" in a week was a feat accomplishing next to impossible.

Marco, unable to see Star in this state, felt passionate, fiery energy rapidly building up inside him. He would make Skeeves pay for this.

 _Kill him! Kill him! Make him pay!_

Filled with contempt, everything turned black.

The next thing Marco remembered, was his hand wrapped tightly around Skeeves' neck against the wall, who was desperately trying to get him to let go. Star was screaming in the background, telling Marco to stop. The principal's face was getting redder back the second, and he spat, wheezing, trying to let go for his dear life.

Everything was in slow motion now. For a while, Marco felt detached, as if he had no part in what was going on. He felt as if he was floating in midair, unable to interfere with the world he was seeing through right now. It was an otherworldly experience, he felt as though he was drifting. Time itself came to a halt, and he looked around, indifferent to the chaos unfolding.

 _I will finish him_. This thought was clearly not his. This thought belonged to whoever was controlling Marco at this instance, and whoever was holding the principal by the throat at this moment.

Marco, for some reason, acquiesced, allowing his body to further drift into nothingness, before all would fade away. He looked at Star, a frozen frame of her terrified face, staring past him and towards the scene before her.

Her eyes were still watery, light glistening off of her tears, tears not yet dropped, and tears to come. She was in anguish. She was in pain.

 _Oh no!_ Within a flash, Marco felt the sensation of the principal ringling through his neck before the both of them slammed to the ground, and Star still screaming in the back.

His hand hurt and pulled away, with a half-conscious Skeeves staring dazedly on, flustered and mumbling incoherent phrases. Marco looked around and saw the entire office torn up, with papers and books everywhere, and a potted vase shattered with the plant displaced.

"Marco!" Star cried, sputtering, grabbing him. "Let's go!" She pulled out her dimensional scissors and tore through space, opening a rift and a gateway to Mewni. Marco, staring down at his hands in disbelief, and Principal Skeeves, mouthed, before the portal closed, _What have I done?_

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note**

"What just happened?!"is probably a good, appropriate question to ask. Things will definitely continue to deescalate, and more will be uncovered about the fate of these two unfortunate friends. Also, don't expect Marco's mixed feelings towards Star _and_ Jackie to end (nor Star and Oskar for that matter) just yet. I wouldn't jump immediately onto the SS Starco and mann it too quickly yet. If you're also thinking that Marco's quickly growing "love" for Star is rushed, know that most of it isn't _really_ all him (Spoiler? Already known?). This will be much more important further down the line. Let me know how you felt from this chapter or the story overall. Am I going too fast, too slow? If you have any suggestions or comments, once again, let me know. I am always looking forward to improve my storytelling and the plot. Some of your predictions are pretty interesting which I will confirm is either true or not. Another chapter will probably be out tomorrow as I'm looking to update daily until school starts again in 2 weeks! :(

Thanks always and if you have/know an excellent story for this show, let me know! I like to read too :)


	7. Chapter 7: Lost

**Author's Note (August 12, 2015):** Things are certainly not looking bright! I apologize to those who are feeling that this story is rapidly descending into the darkness, but alas, it must be done! I don't want to waste too much time here, so enjoy!

* * *

 **[Two days after the incident]**

"I'm glad you could all make it today," Toffee addressed to all of the monsters. He sat at the very end of the Grand Dining Room table, at Ludo's usual spot. Ludo, who had complained earlier about sitting at _Toffee's side_ rather than vice versa, conceded after Toffee assured him the news he was about to deliver would please Ludo exceedingly.

"Gentlemen, what are we all here for?" Toffee asked, sitting in a commandeering pose. In his business suit, and his hair as slick as ever, the scene could have been easily mistaken for a corporate meeting to the outside observer. All the monsters, including, to Toffee's pleasure, Ludo, sat quietly and orderly, listening attentively to Toffee.

"To listen to you!" Lobster Claws said cheerfully, expecting everyone to praise him for his remark.

Ludo and the others gave him a scowl, but Toffee politely replied, "Yes, but I meant...what is your purpose here? What do we hope to accomplish?"

"To get the wand and rule the universe!" Ludo shrieked, pumping his fists in the air and whooping.

Apathetically, Toffee acknowledged Ludo's outburst, merely nodding. "That's correct." Taking a sip from his cup, he placed it delicately on the saucer. The room was once again in utter silence, aside from the occasional coughing or shuffling. Even Ludo had stopped thrashing around as he waited for Toffee to continue speaking.

"Star Butterfly and the boy are no longer in the Earth dimension," Toffee said, breaking the news. The whole room erupted, clamoring among themselves, offering their speculation on the whereabouts of their sworn enemies. Ludo anxiously tugged down his skull crown, and bit his claws.

"What does this mean!" he barked. "Where are they!"

"The very diligent people at St. Olga's have every reason to believe that the two are right here in Mewni," Toffee explained. Earlier that day, Omega met with Toffee secretly in the castle dungeon, privately conferring unto each other of the news.

"Certain circumstances have prevented them from remaining on Earth safely," Toffee said, after the excitement had died down. Signalling Fly Guy to refill his cup, he continued. "They are not at the palace and their current whereabouts are not known."

"How are these good news?" Ludo snarled, only interested in obtaining the wand if he ever had the chance to.

Toffee, ignoring Ludo's complaint, thanked Fly Guy for the refill, and took another sip before sighing in relief. "A clairvoyant prophetess at St. Olga's have felt the presence of a particularly strong force in Mewni shortly after the confirmed disappearance of the teenagers."

"They might be another dimension or back on Earth. This means nothing!" Ludo objected, disappointed of the so-called "news" Toffee had given to them.

"I haven't finished," Toffee replied, unpleased with Ludo's abject and impulsive disrespect for him. He took another savory sip, letting the water swish around and sit in his throat a little while before swallowing. "Here is what prevents them from doing just that." He cleared his throat, before he reached into his suit, pulling out a bright crystal from a tiny box. Extremely luminous, the intensity of the light forced everyone to squint or look away. Even Toffee's eyes began watering before he shut the box up.

"What is that!" Ludo said awed, staring at the box. Toffee tucked in the box back into his suit before smiling deviously.

"A prototype of a special gem that nullifies the effects of most magic effects and tools, including dimensional scissors," Toffee grinned. "Currently, its aura and area of effectiveness can only cover a relatively small area...not enough to engulf an entire kingdom. However, the academy is commissioning mass production of these crystals, hopefully enough to turn the tides against the girl and the boy, and all else who opposes us."

He rose from his seat, taking out the box again and raising it towards the ceiling. "Praise be you O Great One!"

Everyone watched in confusion and astonishment. Even Ludo, whose eyes widened in admiration, admitted to himself privately that he was very thankful to have enlisted Toffee into his army.

"With this," Toffee said. "We do not even need to capture the princess. No. Not anymore we will not." He held the box closer to his chest, comforting the precious item. "With this, all the years of the Butterfly Family's monopolistic, unchecked control over magic will become irrelevant."

"But can _we_ still use magic!" Ludo asked earnestly, holding a hand towards the box.

Toffee, tucking the box into his pocket, nodded firmly. "Yes. But...not the magic we are accustomed to. We shall use it, in its most refined, purest form." His facial expression darkened. "You see, St. Olga's, oh, I have learned much more about the very kind headmistress there. She is a fine woman, one worthy and deserving of complete respect. She has many connections with the Kingdom...even the royal family and yet...knowledge of a secret, ancient power. She is very close to untapping it, and through the assurance of Omega, she is undoubtedly in alignment with our interests."

He pointed towards Ludo and calmly stated, "You are our chosen king. The Academy has sworn complete allegiance to you. We shall strike quickly, and decisively." He bowed before Ludo, and kissed his feet.

Ludo cackled with glee, and bounced up and down, demanding all the rest of his army flock towards him as their king. "Yes! Yes aha! Bow before me! I am unstoppable!"

"With that magic, we will use it to conquer the dimensions following the demise of the King and Queen. We shall leave the claim to throne completely unchallenged...except to you."

"And the magic as you said!" Ludo asked.

"A staff engineered by the Academy will be manufactured, curated specifically for you," Toffee smiled. "You need not worry about the wand anymore."

Ludo beamed and expressed his enthusiasm through dancing and euphorically kicking his tiny legs up. All of the monsters hooted, ecstatic with the suddenly now optimistic outlook in events.

Toffee smiled, leaving Ludo and his army to celebrate while he receded back to his chamber in seclusion. Leaving the hallway, his face became grave again, knowing he had spoken only half-truth. He was not even sure why he told them these lies. He knew the truth. He took the box out of his suit and examined it as he walked. Not daring to open it again, he knew the immense power it held. It did indeed negate the effects of magic but the Academy was not manufacturing anymore crystals. The extent of the Academy's genius and ability to topple a kingdom were far more exaggerated than Toffee suggested at the table.

He also remembered how he obtained the crystal in the first place. That day, he and Omega met in his chambers. They spoke, discussing the terms they had agreed on, their plan to overthrow the Kingdom, and the crystal. Most importantly however, they discussed about the prophecy regarding the demon overlord and his bride. News of the impending apocalypse seemed to go against everything Toffee had counted on.

However, Omega revealed to Toffee information he would have rather not known, or rather, wished had not been true.

"St. Olga does not actually want a revolution," Omega admitted earlier that day in Toffee's chamber. "At least, not in the traditional sense."

"What do you mean?"

"We desire to have the prophecy fulfilled. The lord and his lady must become one."

"But that would mean the complete annihilation of all worlds!"

"Not necessarily."

"How is that possible?"

"It is not annihilation _per se_. All of the worlds will remain intact. Its contents however, will be reformed."

"People will die?"

"Naturally."

"But how many? How many of the innocent shall die in the bloodshed?"

"Countless. Nearly all will perish...but this is the will and call of the prophecy."

Toffee remembered their conversation growing heated, up to the point that Toffee's temper got the best of him, and he attacked Omega, ravaging him.

"I will stop you, and I will stop St. Olga's!"

"You cannot help it. It will be done," Omega coughed, as he spluttered blood. "Kill me...they will only find out. You will quickly undo everything you've worked up for."

Enraged, Toffee knew what he did next. He realized he was at his door now, a bit surprised that he had somehow subconsciously ended up here. Pulling his key out, he opened it and stared at the window. Closing the door, he approached the window, the freshly spilt blood still on the edge of the opening. Looking down, beneath the thickets of shrubbery laid a corpse.

There laid Omega, mangled and lifeless, covered in leaves, thorns, and dirt. Toffee sighed, filled with pity. "A shame a man like that had to die."

But he knew it was the necessary thing to do. He looked beyond the body and over to the dark overhead of the forest. "I do it for you all."

He turned back, staring at the mirror. He knew it would only be a matter of time before it was too late. When the Academy realized that Omega was dead, and Toffee was behind it, they would deduce his objection to their plans and carry out the plan already. The kingdom would still fall, but this time, not with Ludo or Toffee in power. They would find the princess, and they would find her, the perfect match. If prophecy had its way...Toffee could not allow it.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall. Call the Great One," Toffee said. The mirror did not alter in shape. Toffee, thinking his incantation was not clear enough, repeated it a second time.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall. Call the Great One." The mirror still did not change. Instead, he saw himself with a desperate face.

"MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL. CALL THE GREAT ONE," he shouted, charging towards the mirror and pounding it. He yelled over and over before the mirror shattered, the glass flying and skittering across the floor and the frame crashing down onto the floor before dropping flat on its face.

He screamed, hurling the mirror out of the window, cursing spitefully. "You left me! You've forsaken us all! Doomed!" He began bawling, punching the walls before regressing to his cot in the fetal position.

 _Everything. Everything ruined._ He stopped crying and clinched his fists, staring up at the ceiling. He had reached an epiphany, realizing that all that he had accomplished, he could not give up now. There was simply no turning back. _I must remain resolute._ _There is still hope._ Getting off the floor, he stood up, and opened the drawer of his desk. Pulling out the paintings, he placed them into his pockets, before knocking on the wooden desk.

"Until we meet again," he said sorrowfully. There was a knock at the door.

"Toffee! What is going on!" It was Ludo. "Come out!"

Toffee's nostrils flared, and trying to compose himself, he tightened his face. Opening the door, he looked down at Ludo.

"Yes?" Toffee answered.

"So am I really getting that staff?" Ludo gushed.

Toffee bent down towards Ludo's level, with his face no more than five inches away. Staring dead straight into the tiny monster's eyes, Toffee grudgingly said, "Get this through your thick head."

Ludo balked, his face immediately frowning but before he opened his mouth, Toffee clutched Ludo by the beak.

"From now on. I am your master," Toffee said coldly, tightening his grip as Ludo trembled in fear. "Understood!?"

Ludo, muffled, made desperate noises indicating his understanding and nodding. Toffee let go, and Ludo crouched on the floor, shaking.

"We set out for the girl tonight," Toffee said. "Inform the others."

Ludo stood back up, with his scrawny arms bent down in a cautious manner. He stared down on the floor, unable to stare Toffee directly in the face. "Y-y-yes! As you wish!"

"Don't fear me," Toffee said, taking Ludo's crown off of his head and placing on his own. "I do not hate you...I am here to help."

Ludo, babbling, nodded quickly before scrambling down the hallway. Toffee looked on sighing, knowing he had to remain committed to his plan, all on his own now. He would be fighting a multi-sided battle of various enemies, all seeking to foil his plans.

 _Not this time. Not this damn time it won't_.

* * *

 **[Immediately after the incident]**

"Marco!" Star cried, hugging him tightly. They had escaped Earth and were now in Mewni. The problem was however, they were in an unfamiliar place in Mewni, stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Marco, still shocked with what had happened, could only reciprocate the hug by wrapping around Star, sniffling. "I don't know Star."

"Oh why did you have to do that!" Star squeaked, still traumatized from the incident. She pushed away, only holding onto Marco by the shoulders. Both kneeling down together, they stared at each other, unwilling to accept the mess they had just gone through.

"I zoned out. That..that wasn't me Star. You have to believe me," Marco said sadly, not expecting Star to trust him.

"I do! I know that wasn't you. That can't be you!" Star said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Oh Marco, I'm so scared."

"I'm too," Marco replied, comforting Star. "If only I didn't lean over to look at what you were writing!"

Star sniffled, saying, "I was just gonna fail that test! I was just drawing Os..OSKAR!" She started bawling. "I can't see him ever again!"

Marco, too tired to get angry, was still bothered by this. Nonetheless, he could do nothing but let Star take it out.

"I can't ever go back to Earth a-a-and, ohhhh why! Why didn't I study! I can't show my face to my parents!" Star cried.

"It wasn't totally all your fault," Marco reminded. "It was me after all. I…"

"No Marco," Star said, wiping a tear off, and looking down at the ground. "It was me. I did the spell against Miss Skullnick. I...I always screw things up! I really am a klutz! I'm stupid!" She self-deprecatingly thrashed herself against the dirt and began pounding at it in frustration.

"You're not stupid Star! I know you're a smart and bright girl...you just sometimes act out of control," Marco consoled. "But...that's not bad."

"Oh yeah?" she scoffed. "Well look at what flippin' mess we're in now!" She threw her hands up, finally realizing where they were. They were in the middle of a dark forest, with only traces of sunlight seeping through the thick, natural ceiling above.

"I…," Marco paused, looking around where they were too. The trees around them were wide in girth and extended further up than their eyes could reach. The dirt below them was a sickly gray, with wooden splinters laid all across the floor. Vines and weeds grew haphazardly along the trees, and tiny insects were crawling all over the place.

"Eek!" Star cried, standing up, pulling her dress up. "Where are we!"

"I don't know, but let's get out of here!" Marco said, suggesting that she pull out the dimensional scissors and use it to transport them to a much more ideal location.

"Come on, let's just run away to the Amethyst Arcade!" Star said, holding it before making the snipping animation. "Huh? It's not working!"

"Wait! It was working earlier! Maybe you're cutting it wrong," Marco said.

"Yeah, I know. This stupid thing. Come on you can do it Star," Star grumbled, trying to forcefully cut through time and space. After a few more attempts, Star looked tearfully at Marco. "Great. Just great! We can't even get out of here too!"

The two were all alone, helpless, not knowing what to do now.

"I have no idea where we can go! I'm...I'm almost tempted to just fess up to my parents!" Star bemoaned, slumping with a frustrated face. She looked up at Marco with a darker face. "If we can even find our way home though."

Marco looked in all directions, each suggesting no sign of a way out. No matter where the eyes fell upon, there were only trees, thorns, rocks, and despair.

"We...we still have your wand to defend us right?" Marco asked warily, dreading that it might no longer work anymore as the scissors had not.

Star, with a perturbed expression, pulled out the wand. Suddenly, Marco had the strangest idea pop up in his head.

"Star. This sounds crazy...and I know this whole day has just been too much to handle but, give me that wand."

"Marco!" Star cried, moving the wand away from Marco and backing up. "You know it's that thing getting to your head!"

"Star!" Marco said. "You have to trust me on this. I...I think I should try." He gave her an earnest face, reminding her that they really had no other options.

"I...I haven't even tried if it works yet," Star said softly. Anxiously, she held it out and cried a spell. "Burning Campfire Creation!" Nothing shot out of the wand. "Narwhal Blast! Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand! It's not working!" She opened up the wand, trying to check if the batteries were exhausted. "Wait! Where's the charger?"

Marco looked at Star and then down at the wand. The wand-powering unicorn that ran and powered the wand was gone without even a trace of it. "Does...does that mean…"

She dropped the wand and fell on her knees. "It's...it's dead."

"Star. I think I need to try it," Marco said, leaning towards her. "Can I do it?"

"Go ahead," Star said depressingly, all her aspirations and expectations crushed. Today was truly the worst day of her life. Everything had seemed to capsize and all that was good had evaporated right in her face. Her once bright, pink heart cheeks were now dismally gray. She was on the verge of crying again.

Marco, approaching the wand, hesitantly hovered over it, worried on what could happen next. Would he transform into that beast as he did earlier over Principal Skeeves? Would the demonic entity residing inside him cause him to turn against Star? Would touching the wand kill him?

He looked at Star, who was strenuously robbed of her former cheerful disposition. With only melancholy in her eyes, Marco knew right there, she did need a hero. As he did the night before, standing before her door, he decided to take the chance, and grabbed the wand.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** It's happening. Yup yup. Leave behind your comments, suggestions, and speculations. Am I doing well? Horrible? Love it? Hate it? I want to know because I want to continue improving it as the story progresses. There _is no_ definitive end to this story as it's very open-ended! Wherever the plot leads to, we will arrive there but you can provide your input! As always, thanks so much for the encouraging reviews. There might be another chapter tonight and most likely one tomorrow!


	8. Chapter 8: Together

**Author's Note (August 13, 2015):** Today was a rather busy and overwhelming day, so I was not able to spend much time on this one. I have to admit, this chapter (in my opinion), is a bit weak, as it works almost as a filler...actually, it works more like a one-shot. There will be more questions at the end of this chapter, and maybe one or two answered. What happened to the Great One? What's/where's the evil demon in Marco? What happened to the wand! What's going on at the Palace? The Academy? Toffee? Earth? Where the heck is Tom? More on those...not in this chapter though. Starco fans, a one-shotesque chapter for you all here. Kinda! Your time to shine is _now_!

* * *

"Marco!" Star cried, holding her hand up, having had second thoughts as Marco grasped the wand. Both of them braced themselves for the inevitable, for the impending doom and chaos that would consume them. After a few tense seconds, Marco opened his eyes, with the wand in his hand, unchanged and unaltered.

"I...I don't believe it," Marco stuttered. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be relieved or worried. The wand did not react at all, nor did he feel the searing pain that engulfed him earlier that day at school. Nothing unusual happened to him physiologically, and he was unable to notice any differences inside him.

Star looked up with jaded eyes, and then looked back down, disheartened. "My family wand...gone forever."

Marco placed the lifeless wand back down, and shoved it across the ground towards Star. It slid and stopped directly beneath Star in full view. "You can't be sure," he said.

Star slowly moved her head up and gazed at him funereally, and looked back at the wand. It was difficult for Marco to see Star depressed; Marco had never seen his best friend looked as gloomy as she was now, for this long. Empathizing with her, he almost felt like crying himself. It was almost, as he felt, that he had lost Star. The friend he knew was gone, herself now all but a former shell of the past. He remembered when he thought she had left him forever on the day of her Mewberty incident.

The most striking feeling that immediately came to him when he believed Star was gone forever was unimaginable grief. Abandonment and helplessness quickly followed suit, further bringing Marco down. If Star had not come back, which she thankfully did, Marco may have never remained the same. When he hugged her, he knew that their relationship truly meant something. Except, at that time, he could not picture such a special attachment that was now only blossoming between him and Star. Unrequitedly he thought however.

Now, Star was gone again, although it was obvious that she wasn't in the physical sense. No, Star Butterfly was still at his side, but the person who defined Star had faded away. Marco missed the old Star, and grieved with the new Star. Saudade was the new feeling that hovered over them, weighing them down, reminding them fully of their nightmare.

Marco wished, if he could, go back in time to reverse all of the disastrous mistakes the two had made. It was possible, given that they had only visited Father Time himself earlier that week but without the wand or the dimensional scissors, any viable chance to contact Time was virtually impossible.

They had only each other now, with nothing, and no one else for that matter, to rely on. In spite of all their losses, all of this occurring within a frighteningly short amount of time, they remained together. From the very first day Star arrived to Earth until now, they were virtually indivisible.

This fact proved comforting to Marco however. He crawled closer to Star and hugged her, whispering softly into her ear, "Star, no matter how you feel...I will always be here for you." He grabbed her hands and placed it against his, wrapping tightly around it. He moved both of their hands onto his heart, allowing her to feel his heartbeat. Likewise, he did the same against her chest. "Never forget that."

Star weakly smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. She was deeply moved, and convicted, without words with Marco's words and expressions of care and affection. She did not say a word, but only hugged him firmly, laying her head against his shoulder.

Marco's face buried deep in her hair, he smelt the slight, gentle aroma of lavender and cupcakes from the shampoo Star used. Mumbling just enough for Star to make it out, he murmured, "I love you." He was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth, and he himself was not certain if he actually meant it, _that_ way. But as they hugged, he knew, who couldn't mistake it for that form of love? Was it really all that wrong...to fall in love with your best friend?

Star continued hugging him, but responded to his comment, by holding onto him tighter. Finally, she let out a sigh, and delicately cooed with a faint smile, "I do too." The two remained fixed in their positions for about a minute, unwilling to let go.

It did not matter if it was romantic or not Marco finally thought. What really mattered most to him, and what was a certain, indisputable fact, was that he did love her, as she, did he. No one would be able to break them up, nor no one would be able to tamper with this bond.

At last, they slowly let go of their embrace, only holding onto each other by the hands, and stared at each other directly with complete understanding and genuine bliss. Reaffirming their friendship, they smirked, reddening before laughing.

They did not speak as they walked together into the unknown, but their understanding of each other had elevated to an entirely new level. Their gaits were synchronized, and their occasional gazes at each other were always in unison. Holding onto each other by the hand, they were prepared to get out of the forest safely, and to defend each other, and to the death if the circumstances demanded it too.

After hours of walking, to trudging, to limping, the two ultimately collapsed, exhausted, on the ground of a coppice, with the forest canopy exposed and opened, allowing the two to gaze into the night sky.

Hungry, thirsty, and tired, the two tried forgetting their pains by enjoying the little window of hope above with each other. Star pointed out how Mewni also had a moon like Earth, and it too went through lunar phases. After looking for the Mewni moon, Star concluded that it must have been a new moon. They fell asleep in each other's arms, nuzzled, as their only source of warmth, and protection. It was far better than any shelter the two could have created if they spent their time scavenging instead of stargazing.

The next day, Marco woke up groggily, his legs aching from all the walking and his arms numb, presumably from Star laying atop of them. He finally noticed she was not there with him. Alarmed, he sat up, preparing to call her before he heard shuffling overhead. There, he saw Star, busying herself with sticks and rocks, fashioning them into spears and tools.

"Star?" Marco asked. His stomach began to grumble and bent down, massaging it.

Star looked back, smiling. "Good morning!" Her cheerful self was back, as she hummed, dropping a pile of rocks near her assortment of items.

"Do you need help Star?" Marco said, standing up. He wobbled, his sore legs barely able to keep himself up.

"Well, I'm almost done!" she said, as she tied several branches together with a torn-off piece of dried vine. The vine crunched up, splitting into several fragments, and fell. "Dang it," she mumbled as she picked up another vine.

Marco was amazed by her handiwork and walked up closer to take a look. All across the floor laid sticks, makeshift torches, hatchets, spears, and even a bowl made out of leaves. "You...you did all this?"

Star grinned, glad that Marco was impressed. "Mhm!"

"That's awesome!" Marco laughed, picking up one of Star's creations and studying it. "You're really great at these things."

"My dad taught me when I was younger if I ever ended up lost outside without magic," Star explained, grabbing a piece of bark and fastening it around her waist. A small looped opening allowed her to place three long sticks into it, and she tightened it.

"I remember watching some TV shows like that," Marco remarked, recalling the various "survival" programs he watched including the British ex-soldier who traveled to the Kalahari and lived off of elephant fecal matter. He shuddered.

His stomach growled again, and he tugged against it. "What are we supposed to eat?"

"We'll find out," Star said. "I made us some weapons if we need to go hunting."

"So...wait, we'll be hunting?" Marco said, although it should have not been too surprising given that they were after all, in a wild forest. A Mewni forest that was.

"Well yeah, what do you expect Marco!" Star laughed, tossing a spear at Marco. "Careful! It's sharp."

"I think I only need my karate moves, Star," Marco bragged, posing. Star giggled, smacking him in the head with a stick.

"Ow! What was that for?" Marco whined, rubbing his head.

Star blew a raspberry, mocking him. "Ow! What was _that_ for!"

"Come on Star, be nice," Marco said, blushing.

Their fun was quickly interrupted when they heard loud rustling behind the trees. Marco ran up to Star and grabbed a spear, scanning the forest tensely. The noise came closer, and both were able to pinpoint the direction of it. It was directly to their left, and with determined faces, were ready to fight whatever came out of the darkness.

The leaves began to shake more violently as the creature or person came closer. "Marco!" Star cried, as she pointed her spear directly towards the sound.

They screamed, dropping their spears and clung unto each other in fear. On retrospect, their best move should have been to run but the seemingly menacing threat that revealed itself proved to be nothing more but an innocent bunny.

"Where haven't I seen this before," Marco frowned before sighing with relief. Star bent down to pet the bunny, and rubbed its soft coat.

"Ahh Marco, it's soooo cute. Who's a little cutie pa-tootie?" Star said with her lips puffed out.

Marco, suspicious, stared at the bunny before looking straight into the forest. "Star, I don't know if that bunny was it."

"Come on Marco. It's a bunny! It's so innocent and so darn cute!" Star said, playing with the docile rabbit's ears.

"We're gonna eat it later?" Marco asked.

"Marco! No! Not the bunny!" Star gasped, holding onto the bunny defensively.

"You know, that breakfast-making bunny would have been real handy," Marco said, letting his guard down and kneeling down with Star and the rabbit. "Hey, it _is_ pretty cute huh?"

There was shuffling again. "Star…," Marco said, his eyes wide open.

"Maybe it's this guy's fwend," Star said, dismissing Marco as she squeezed the bunny's cheeks.

A rose popped out from the bushes and dangled above the bush. "Star!"

"Hey! It's a flower!" Star cried, pointing at the rose.

"It...it wasn't there a moment ago!" Marco said. "It's, it's that…"

"Wait!" Star gasped. "Runnn!"

As she screamed, a large creature came crashing out the bush, roaring. It was a flower monster, an abominable, green cockroach with four eyes, a beak for a mouth, and a deceptively pretty rose atop its head. Raising its forearms, it lunged towards the two friends.

The two scrammed, with Star holding onto the rabbit, screaming like cowards. The monster was hot on their trails, charging towards them. Dodging trees and hurdling over fallen logs, the teenagers fled with all their might. Marco spat out a leaf after he was smacked in the head by low-lying vines during the escape, while Star tried getting the twigs from tangling into her long hair and the bunny.

The monster crashed through the trees, felling some of them in the process, and creating a stir in the otherwise quiet forest. The ground trembled as it scuttled along the floor, in pursuit of its prey. It continued shrieking, imprinting peril and fear into the teens, as they dared not look back, only hoping that the monster would give up before their own legs gave out.

"Star! We'll make it!" Marco encouraged, as they ran. They were about a meter away, and had there been no trees in between them, they would have almost surely held hands along the way.

"I believe you! We'll make it! Ahhh!" Star screamed. They laughed, in spite of their clear endangerment. They were charged up, their renewed sense of excitement and adventure reinvigorated.

"Hey, it's just like what we always do!" Marco said, as he ducked below a branch, before smoothly moving to the side to avoid a tiny, prickly sapling.

"Yeah! Except without the fighting and more the running!" Star pointed out, smiling.

The monster screeched, frustrated that it had not managed to reach the two yet. Angrily, it sprinted faster, terrifying the teenagers. Marco took a look behind and screamed, the monster's arms only about six feet away. Huffing and puffing, Marco wheezed, "Star, it can only chase one of us!"

"What!" Star yelled with a horrified expression, immediately knowing what he meant.

"Star, keep running! I'll make it!" Marco shouted, as he veered to the right.

"Marco!" Star shrieked, slowing down, with an arm out. Marco was replaced with the back of the monster as it chased him down.

Above the sound of breaking trees and monstrous howling, Marco in the distance yelled, "I'll make it! I love you! I love you!"

Star angrily spat back. "Oh come back!" She held the bunny close to her chest. He was too far away now to be heard now.

"I...we were only beginning to have it good again," she sighed. Marco's yelling reached Star's ears again as it grew louder. Consequently, the sound of the monster and the vibrations on the forest floor came along.

"This guy won't stop!" Marco cried, panting, his arms flailing.

"That didn't work huh!" Star said, running alongside Marco.

"Nope," Marco said frankly. "I'm...I'm getting really tired of this!" He moaned in agony, sweating profusely, his hoodie soaked in perspiration.

"I'm...I'm too," Star huffed, her legs aching beyond toleration and her chest giving way. The vegetation of the woods became noticeably wider and brighter, with each tree spaced further and further away from each other. To their delight, in front of them was a clear opening.

"We're almost there!" Marco laughed ecstatically, placing an arm on Star's back. "Almost done!"

"Yay! Hooray for us!" Star puffed, completely drained of the energy inside. "I...I don't think I can make it…" She looked dazed, her eyes closing up.

"Come on! Look!" Marco said, pushing Star as they ran out of the woods and into an empty, grassy field. To their horror, while they had indeed left the forest, they realized that the "opening" was no more than yet another small patch of grass. What lied ahead of them, or rather _around_ them, were more trees and never-ending sight of plants growing in all directions.

"It's...it's our only hope!" Marco said, disappointed, gritting his teeth, pulling Star by the arm. They only took a few steps into the field before suddenly, they found themselves no longer running on firm ground but, falling leaves. Almost instantly, they plummeted, rapidly descending down the unforeseen pit.

Screaming, the two stared up, seeing the hole they had fallen through growing smaller and smaller, and rocks and weeds tumbling down with them. Trying to grasp onto each other in the quickening darkness, they hit the water below, and sunk.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter:** Gonna tie loose ends the next few chapters and I will do my best to shed light on some of the more troubling details advanced in this plot (the demon inside Marco, the prophecy, the Kingdom, etc.)! As always, leave behind your reviews. I cannot express how touched I am reading them, and they really motivate me to write better. Sorry this one may have not been my strongest!


	9. Chapter 9: Cave

**Author's Note (August 16, 2015):** Hi! I'm back! I'm sorry this chapter has taken awhile but I have been busy with life. I won't say much right now but all I can say is, I rewatched all of the episodes of Star up to St. Olga's to reabsorb all those finer details and now have an even clearer direction of where the plot is going. This chapter will remain entirely dedicated to the plight of Star and Marco but the next one will continue off where Toffee and the gang are (and possibly another arc of other characters).

Also, shoutout to CompletelyComatose's _In Full Bloom_ series, the official sister/companion story for this story! It's nice, and also has all that *Starco* and explores a different path, starting off after the Mewberty episode instead. If you haven't already read it or read it thoroughly, please do. I enjoyed it very much!

* * *

"Marco!" Star shouted, coughing out water and thrashing through the water. She couldn't see a thing, and her dress weighed her down, making it exceptionally difficult for her to stay afloat. Her feet couldn't touch the ground, as her legs kicked desperately through the nothingness below. Gasping, she tried swimming towards a direction she felt would be land. There was a waterfall nearby, and she swam closer towards it, all the while screaming for Marco.

"I'm over here!" cried Marco in the distance. It was pitch black, and they were completely immersed in the terrifying chasm of the unknown.

"I'm...I'm covering over!" Star yelled, as she began doggy paddling towards Marco's voice. Her legs were already weak, having ran from the monster earlier. Her body was completely exhausted with every inch of her body aching and squeezing in pain. She advanced an inch ahead at an excruciatingly slow rate. It felt more like clawing her way to safety rather than swimming. Her heart was pounding, pressing against her chest, yearning for rest yet compelled to pump on for their dear lives.

"There's some rocks over here!" Marco shouted. "I, I can stand!" Star groaned in pain, unable to keep on swimming. The current, although weak, moved against her, pushing her slowly away from Marco, leading further away from her only sense of safety. Determined, she forced her arms to rotate, and defiantly kicked. Her dress made it difficult to swim, limiting the mobility of her legs, so she each time she kicked, she overextended, expanding her drenched dress, briefly causing her to dip deeper into the water. She was very tempted to kick off of her boots, with the water bottled inside against her socks and feet becoming almost overbearing.

The entire experience itself felt surreal and confusing, and if there was even the scantest ray of light in the pit they were in, offering her the chance to actually _see_ where she was going, she would have almost surely still see nothing more than a dizzy, spiraling blur.

Finally, her hands brushed against something rough and firm, and her fingernails bore into it. Climbing up laboriously, she got her footing and finally stood up, with the water finally at chest-level rather than ominously up to her chin.

"Follow me!" Marco cried. He was only a few feet away, and in the darkness, he tried feeling his way, in hopes of pulling Star into safety. Star's legs buckling, she tried to maintain balance across the inconsistent flooring of submerged rocks, but as she inched towards Marco, her boots got wedged into a small cavity, and she fell face-forward. She cried but instead of hitting water, she fell right into the arms of Marco.

"Got you!" Marco sighed in relief, heaving as he helped Star back up. They still couldn't see each other, but they knew that the both of them were smiling at each other, thankful that they escaped death from both aboveground and in the water or whisked away to wherever the underground river flowed.

"What do we do?" Star asked, shivering. Her clothes and hair were pressed against her skin, and water droplets kept dripping down into her eyes.

"I don't know," Marco admitted, wrapping himself, also cold. "But we need to get out of the water... _fast_."

At this point, any direction they took was a good as it could get. With the rocks below them their only sanctuary, staying stranded here would do them no good. They knew if they remained here, they would eventually succumb to the harrowing effects of hypothermia or starvation. They had no choice but to swim on.

"Maybe...we should swim towards the waterfall. There might be a cave behind it," Marco said.

"I just forgot!" Star gasped. "Where's the bunny!" She sighed sadly.

"Oh...oh yeah," Marco said. "I hope it's okay…"

"I do too," Star quivered, her teeth chattering. "It's, it's, it's c-cold."

They started trudging against the current, linking arms with one and the other outwards to balance. Slowly, they felt the rocks receding away, leading them further and further back into the water. Eventually, their feet no longer touched the bottom, and found themselves afloat across the deep pool.

"We have to swim again," Marco groaned, as they moved towards the waterfall. The sound of the water was now almost deafening, the water crashing against the surface, and mist spraying in the air. Foamy bubbles traveled down the water, clustering around the two.

Just as Star was about to grab onto Marco's hand again, she heard him yelp. "Ow!"

"What happened! Are you okay?" she asked, panicked.

"I rammed against a rock," he winced. "My...my knee." His swimming came to a stop as he stopped to feel his knee. It stung and he cringed with discomfort. "It's...it's bleeding."

"Marco," Star said sympathetically. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the water. They could finally see each other in the dim glow. They both gasped, not at the sight of the cloud of blood that had formed around Marco's knee but that Star's satchel was shining brightly.

"Star! Is that your wand?" Marco pointed.

Star unzipped her satchel, and sure enough, as she pulled it out, her wand was fully awaken, brimming with energy and life. She squealed in delight. "But this is impossible!"

"Let's get out of here!" Marco cried triumphantly.

Star held up her wand and waved it, crying, "Room Light Transform!"

The cave suddenly lit up magically, revealing them the waterfall they were approaching and the walls of the cave. They squinted, their eyes burning from the glare but nonetheless, they whooped with a sense of satisfaction and profound joy.

"Over there!" Star cried, pointing towards a small ledge adjacent to the waterfall that led into a narrow passageway. She placed her wand back into her satchel and they swam forward, grasping onto it, and finally, pulled themselves up and laid on semi-dry ground, groaning in relief.

"I think I just want to lay here for a bit," Marco remarked honestly, laying on his stomach and kissing the ground.

"We should find a better place to lie down," Star said, as she pushed herself up, and leaned against the cave wall. "Oh I wished I had the spell book here with me. We need some dry clothes."

Marco's eyes bulged immediately in embarrassment, realizing that they needed to change into new clothes...except they had no extra clothes with them. Star saw his face and blushed as well, and hit him. "I-uh, I'm gonna definitely find that spell you nasty!"

Following the passageway, ducking below low-lying stalactites and other rock formations. Star's spell was immensely useful. Had she not conjure the spell, even if they were to find their way to this passageway, they would bump and scrape themselves to death before they could ever make it out.

Marco rubbed against his knee. The clean cut on his left knee stung, although it wasn't deep. It still bled, a huge drop of blood oozing out every time he wiped the previous blob away.

"Do you have a spell for a bandage?" Marco asked.

"I wish I did," Star said. "But...I just don't get it." She opened her wand and saw that the power-generating unicorn was miraculously running it again. "How and why was it not working earlier? It could have like, totally helped us a lot back there."

"Yeah," Marco muttered. That deep sense of darkness had come back to him again. He had realized that throughout their entire time here in Mewni so far, not once did a single menacing thought pass him. Now, it was back.

 _The wand. Take it._

"Star. You don't suppose…" Marco began, staring down at his knee.

"What Marco?" Star asked.

"The wand came back after I started bleeding," Marco said, pointing towards his knee which fresh blood still forming.

"I don't know," Star mumbled, crossing her arms uneasily. "I hope it doesn't mean that…"

"He is there," Marco said darkly. "He's back. Inside me. The thoughts are back."

"Wait, so I was assuming this whole time that tentacle demon was inside your head," Star said.

"He was...is. He wasn't after...after he attacked Skeeves," Marco said grimly.

Star burrowed her face and groaned, "Oh no, not that."

"That's why nothing happened with the wand when I touched it," Marco said.

"But that doesn't explain why the wand didn't work earlier," Star pointed out.

"No. It might mean…," Marco's face paled. "The wand and the arm, Star...they're interconnected. He keeps telling me to take it and I try not to! Please, please keep it away from me."

Star held her satchel protectively. She yelled, yelling at the demon, chastising, "You better stop tormenting Marco you evil freak! You're not getting your hands on this wand. If I could, I'd end you right now!"

Marco kept his distance away from Star, ensuring that he not suddenly grab the wand on impulse. "Star...if I start going weird...please keep me away."

Star's faced grew disheartened. "Ohh, but I need you and I want you to stay." She glared, cursing the arm. "I shouldn't have given you the arm in the first place."

"I can't believe I really got worked up about that Jeremy kid," Marco sighed, facepalming.

"Hey, that little turd is a jerk," Star said, shaking her head and tutting.

"I should've kicked his butt fair and square. Sensei would have approved," Marco said. "Ugh, this is all a nightmare."

"A nightmare we're both in together," Star smiled sadly, resting her hand on Marco.

Marco stared at her, and saw how homely she looked, recalling the night before when he saw her sleeping. She really was special, caring, and... _beautiful_.

"Star…," Marco started. His heart was throbbing, and he began stuttering, almost slurring his words. "...Re-re-mem...ber when...I said I 'loved you' back up there?"

Star laughed and nodded. "Yes. I love you too."

Marco warmed up but then asked treading delicately, "But...you know...I think I might have meant…"

Star's smile came to an abrupt end as she gave a poker face. She asked flatly, "Wait. What?"

Marco tightened up and stood there, filled with dread. He somehow found himself uttering, "I think I might actually be in love with you."

Star looked down, unsure how to process it. Marco stared at her, his body flaring up, as if it was burning, burning with self-loathing and shame. She gave him an awkward look, and then, Marco thought, even disgust.

"S-Star," Marco choked, he gulped, leaning against the wall.

Star didn't say a word but looked at him with disbelief. She felt betrayed, and lost, not able to put words to her thoughts. Star looked at her best friend with remorseful eyes. She slowly said, "Marco...I know you feel this way…"

Marco continued tensing up, squirming in displeasure yet blanketed in utter denial. At that moment, he hoped that Star would declare her mutual feelings for him.

"I think it's the arm getting to you," Star said. Marco felt crushed, but then he realized, and stared at his hands as if repulsed. Were his feelings all a lie? Were they simply the byproducts of Tentacle Arms' possession and residency inside his soul? He looked at her, and still could not help but look at her lovingly.

He shook violently, and sobbed. It did not matter. He cared not the demon that was within, but instead felt heartbroken, and his heart ached, bitterly crushed with the double-edged revelation that had forced its way through it. Their friendship was compromised he thought. He had ruined it, as his face was scratched up against the jagged soil below. Marco felt the urge to be by himself alone, sheltered in his own little world, in a place where he deserved to be: to be hopelessly alone. His mind was whirling around with all shades of emotion, and spasms of despair continued to shake his body as he tried to stifle his pathetic crying, unable to handle the painful truth.

Star also began tearing up, in pity, although she herself was confused too. _She_ couldn't bring herself to like him, although at that moment, she genuinely wished she could. "Marco," she said, trying to soothe him, although she choked up too. "You...you know I...I wished I felt the same."

She rubbed his back, trying to hold back her tears but she too, began to cry softly. Star picked him up, and led him the way out of the passageway, feeling guilty even though she thought and knew, she clearly was not in the wrong.

The passageway led way to a large room, with stalactites adorning the roof and stalagmites jutting out of the uneven floor. A pool of stagnant, greenish water was the only notable feature on the ground floor, but there were several more openings leading to other possible chambers.

Laying Marco down against the floor who had fallen asleep, Star built a campfire using her spell, and laid down, against Marco's back, thinking about what was going through Marco's head.

"Room Dark Transform," she whispered, and the cave reverted back to its natural state: utter darkness. She closed her eyes, knowing full well that the cruelty of Tentacle Arms and any other forces of evil were clearly hedged against Marco and her, desiring them only suffering and pain.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** :(

I know some of you are feeling bad about Marco, but it does raise an interesting question: Does Marco truly love Star, or is this merely the working of Tentacle Arms to "fulfill" the prophecy? The cave they're in is also very important. They'll be in here a while, and learn a bunch of new (equally important) things, that's for sure. See you in the next chapter and as always, leave behind a review! :)


	10. Chapter 10: Shoe

**Author's Note (August 17, 2015):** Who else is excited for Mewnidependence Day and the Banagic Incident episodes today? The season finale is fast approaching and I feel tempted to try holding off my story until more information and the plot is revealed in the series...but then I want to write on! Go watch the show before you come here when it airs. This chapter aims to resolve some plot holes, and provide you all some insight on the overall situation. I'll be writing more, and get the story moving at a more respectable, exciting pace. Hope you enjoy and sorry for that sad chapter!

* * *

"You guys!" Ludo shrieked, holding his distraught face.

Buff Frog rushed to him. "Ludo master! What is wrong? Where is your crown?"

"That _Toffee_. He's gone mad!"

The rest of Ludo's army huddled around Ludo, wondering what had happened to their beloved leader who fell on his fours and began retching violently. Ludo stood up shakily, struggling as Buff Frog helped him up, and wiped the saliva off of his beak.

"We need to stop him right now!" Ludo declared, wagging his finger. Bearicorn fetched his scepter and gave it to Ludo who pointed it back towards the hallway. " _After_ him!"

Concerned only for their master's well-being and wishes, the monsters snarled and charged out of the room, ready to beat Toffee to a pulp.

"I knew he was trouble," Buff Frog grunted as he saluted Ludo.

"Yes, I was so wrong about him! Now go!"

The monsters blindly ran, and began punching everything in sight from pillar columns to harmless castle decor and overturning vases.

Ludo glowered, scornfully expressing his utmost disapproval and disbelief in their blatant stupidity. He ran up and started kicking some of them, in bitter rage.

"Oh will you idiots ever get it right!" The sound of indiscriminate roughhousing and shattered glass was replaced by horrified screams and cries. Ludo only managed to see a massive fireball rising to the ceiling before it extinguished naturally, leaving behind a dark, black cloud adrift, as he looked up.

There, in front of an entire row of cowering monsters, Toffee stood, his eyes burning, fierce and unforgiving. Immediately, Ludo dropped down once again, submissively, covering his neck and shaking as he heard firm footsteps approaching closer and closer, all clinically and deliberately planned, adding more and more fear into the tiny bird's craven heart.

Ludo felt the brushing of Toffee's shoes next to his ear and he screamed, looking straight up at Toffee's imposing self, and began effusively begging for mercy.

"You are absolutely pathetic," Toffee said sternly. "Your audacity, the misguided effrontery of your actions in the face of danger is even worse than your own army." Toffee dealt a powerful blow to Ludo's stomach with a kick, forcing the bird to lay on his back, staring straight up at Toffee.

"You learn nothing do you? Do you even know what you want in life you ignorant fool?" Ludo shook his head, writhing in pain. The others watched helplessly, unwilling to stand up for their degraded leader. "You exploit your men for your own pompous, meaningless pursuits. You want to rule the world? You want the world to serve you for your own disgusting benefit?" Toffee's voice was growing louder. He stood directly above Toffee and placed a foot on his face, squishing him, making Toffee squirming under his sole.

"Here's your world. Here's where you belong!" Toffee growled, forcing his foot down on Ludo's face. "People like you deserve nothing! Nothing! They are either born blessed with everything and then think they deserve more or they seek to gratify themselves at the misfortune and expense of others."

Toffee looked up, his eyes softening as he gazed at Ludo's army. He sympathetically asked, "Has your master ever once helped you whenever you fought for him? Has he ever repaid you in kindness or mere appreciation for all of the pain you have all endured?"

One by one, hesitantly, they looked at one another and nodded, recounting the innumerous occasions their dignity was reduced to nothing as they devoted themselves fanatically for a hopeless cause.

Toffee pressed harder, raising it up quickly and slamming it down, squishing Ludo's face. "I'll show you how to earn...earn the world. You begin in the world with a foot stomping on you, crushing your dreams and your aspirations, because life is, by no means fair. You are born nothing, and through it you, you will find yourself!"

He lifted his foot and booted Ludo across the floor, who rolled limply, half-conscious and bloodied.

"And you don't even fight," Toffee jeered. "You weak, impish beast. You're a little child. I don't know what these poor fellows saw in you. You nauseate me to no end." He spat at Ludo, and kicked him again. "Get up!"

Ludo weakly brought himself up, staggering, before he stood, albeit swaying unevenly, looking up at Toffee with his disfigured face. Part of his beak was chipped, and a drip of blood hanged delicately at the hinge.

"Insolent and rash are you? You think you can run away from me by relying on others? Will your allegiance to me falter when the perfect opportunity arises?"

Ludo did not say a word, but humbly looked down. Toffee grabbed Ludo's cheeks, clenching on to them. "You look at me when I speak. What do you say?"

"I...I will-ul...I will work for you," Ludo said, trying to force the words out of his mouth. Toffee dropped him, knowing full well that Ludo probably did not mean a single ounce in that statement.

"Unfortunately, I do not believe I could ever trust you," Toffee scowled disappointingly. "But I suppose it is within your nature...your proclivity predestines you to be the sniveling little serpent you are."

He looked at the other monsters and slyly smiled, extending his arms affectionately. "Who here would rather have I as their master?"

Everyone except for Buff Frog gave their unequivocal support for Toffee, jubilantly accepting Toffee's ascension and jeering at their former, conceded master. Buff Frog merely clapped, but his eyes remained fixed on Ludo, remaining ever loyal to him. Toffee took note of this but decided to ignore it.

"Then my brothers," Toffee said, quite pleased with the reaction, "Tonight we will find the girl, and we will get that wand."

As the army roared in approval, Toffee stared at Ludo. "As for you…"

 **[Later]**

Toffee unfurled a map at the table in the war room chamber, with his monsters cluttered around him, looking at the intricate design and symbols the cartographer had beautifully rendered of Mewni. Ludo sat in a corner, tied up in rope and gagged with a torn-off piece of his cloak, unable to participate in the meeting.

"Our castle is here," Toffee said, as he pointed at a black rhombus on the right-hand corner of the map. The monsters nodded, although over half of them had no idea how to interpret the map itself, nor a clue at where Toffee was going at with this piece of paper.

"Our order of business is to track down the princess somewhere and somehow. She could be anywhere, and without the crystal I have, we will be unable to locate her...however, we are in need of additional items to fight her as a result of her wand." He paused, sighing, knowing that this plan would be difficult to execute. "Who here believes we can take over Mewni with this much of us?"

Everyone raised their hands anxiously, hoping not to anger Toffee. Toffee shook his head but he said assuringly, "I understand your confidence in us but...we must be honest with ourselves: we need more in our numbers if we want to take over Mewni. And how? Any ideas?"

"We ask nicely for help!" Lobster Claws suggested. He was immediately punched by Three-eyed Potato Baby who scowled.

"Uh, we raid the villages and take them in?" Bearicorn said.

Toffee raised his eyes in surprise. "Very, very good. Yes, we bring in new recruits."

Bearicorn smiled smugly, pleased with himself with his suggestion.

"But a peasant army might not be enough to quash a kingdom," Toffee said, putting an end to Bearicorn's satisfaction. "No. We are in need of a more powerful force, a competent force: St. Olga's."

"So where's that guard from there?" asked Man Arm.

Toffee sighed, looking at the map rather dismally. _I should have not killed him_. Toffee lied through his teeth, "He is alive and well."

Toffee continued explaining his plan, realizing how rash and ill-conceived it was of his having thrown Omega out of the window. He didn't agree with anything with what St. Olga's had in envisioned for the future of Mewni, but he could not deny their indispensable help and power. If they went against both the Academy and the Kingdom, they would almost surely be crushed. He needed them now as situational allies. _But that prophecy shall not be fulfilled!_

He knew that the Academy had already expressed interest in Toffee and Ludo, and he knew that Omega himself, was but a mere guard, a simple messenger. If Omega's death remained in secret, Toffee could still negotiate an alliance with the Academy, allowing them to track down Star and to take the wand. _From there,_ he thought, _I will find a way_.

"We will leave for the academy this very night," Toffee declared, closing up the map. He shouted towards Ludo. "You...might be able to join us if you behave well." Ludo monotonously grunted.

 **[On Earth]**

"No, I'm telling you sirs, I do not know where my son or his friend is!" Mr. Diaz said to the officers at his door.

Mrs. Diaz was bawling, tugging on her husband's bulking forearms. The police arrived at their home, informing them that their son had physically attacked the school principal and damaged school property.

"May we take a look inside," one of the officers asked.

"Yes, sure!" Mr. Diaz said, welcoming the officers in.

The officers began investigating, probing through every opening and room, in search for the teenagers. The Diazs were gravely concerned, wondering where Marco and Star had gone off too. Mrs. Diaz desperately tried getting Marco to pick up the phone, doing so the fifth time when the officers called from upstairs, "This your son's room?"

"Y-yes!" Mrs. Diaz cried, rushing upstairs. Mr. Diaz followed, trying to assuage his grieving wife. The officers inspected Marco's bed and opened up drawers, rummaging through his underwear and his closet.

A walkie talkie buzzed with another officer on the other line. "Officer McBrady?"

The officer with the walkie talkie handed it to the other officer who was going through Marco's secret stash of pictures of Jackie. "Yes, this is Officer McBrady, over."

"Were you aware of any unusual behavior of your son?" the other officer asked.

"No, not at all sir. He is a good son and he has good grades, always got honor roll," Mr. Diaz said defensively, as his wife held on to him.

"He nearly choked the principal to death," the officer said speculatively, holding up a trophy Marco won in a karate tournament. "He fights?"

"Yes, he goes to a dojo down by Central," Mr. Diaz frowned.

The officer merely nodded, placing the trophy down. "And another student, she lives here?"

"As a foreign exchange student," Mr. Diaz answered. "She's best friends with our son and has been living here for nearly three months."

"From where?" the officer asked.

"From…" Mr. Diaz chuckled softly, knowing that his answer would sound difficult to believe. "From another dimension called Mewni."

The officer turned to other who was holding the walkie talkie and said, "These are the ones."

His colleague nodded, relaying back to the walkie talkie. "This unit is the one."

"Alright sir," the officer said, placing a hand on the gun in his pocket. "You're under arrest for harboring an illegal alien in the United States. It is a felony, and you are violating the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act."

Mr. Diaz stared in disbelief, slowly raising his arms up. Mrs. Diaz gasped, and shook her head, pleading to the officers. "I don't understand! Why do you have to do this!"

"The law's the law m'am. You're under arrest as well. Stick 'em out."

The officers cuffed the two, and led them out while dozens of police cruisers arrived at the Diaz household, with officers coming in. As the Diaz were driven away to jail, the officers arrived at Star's room and were amazed by its interior and contents. Hundreds of items for evidence were hauled away in plastic bags and crates by hazmat-toted detectives.

"Take a look at this," an officer said, picking up the Magical Instruction Book. Opening it up, Glossaryck came out, who was about to offer his usual greeting before shrieking, trying to close the book on himself. The officers screamed likewise, terrified to see the blue, bearded humanoid, before slamming the book. "We need to notify the federal government on this. We have ourselves a major problem."

That evening, dozens of students and staff were brought to the Echo Creek Police Department as officers inquired on their awareness and experiences with Star. The officers were surprised to know that virtually all of them had never reported any incidents within the past two months and several students even went missing. It had seemed as though everyone was complicit with the arrival of an interdimensional princess, and no one had any true qualms with monsters running about.

The principal himself, it was revealed, received an alarming sum of illicit money from the king and queen of Mewni, and allowed Star to attend even while knowing full well her presence there was illegal. The school district had no records of the princess, the only evidence of Star's enrollment and grades were filed away in Mr. Skeeves' cabinet. Presses would be charged against him as soon as he was treated for his injuries and released medically from the hospital.

Star's Magical Instruction Book, and her interdimensional mirror were among the various items seized, and sent to independent research laboratories and government agencies to fully understand their uses and properties. Hundreds of animals, some unidentifiable, those that were summoned by Star through her spells, were sent to animal shelters, while others to be studied on and identified by the scientific community. No doubt, understanding of the universe would change fundamentally that day on Earth, and the government would have to decide whether or not to reveal this information to the public the next day.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** Yes, everyone at Echo Creek Academy are insane, the government is honing in on this conspiracy, the Diazs are in jail, Toffee is now asserting himself as the leader, and...and...Marco is crying in his sleep while Star listens! Take a look into our poor deuteragonist's (he was more of the protagonist in the earlier chapters though) mind as he dreams, and what is going on at the Royal Palace. A long-awaited character (or two) will finally make their appearance in the next chapter finally instead of being only mentioned explicitly once! All this, in the next chapter :)


	11. Chapter 11: Dreams

**Author's Note (August 21, 2015):** Wow, sorry for the long wait! Who else loved Mewnipendence Day? That was awesome. The Banagic Incident was also kinda great, but that ending was very confusing (but definitely not the end of Starco). Anyways, this is my last weekend before senior year, so I'll try releasing one more chapter after this before I'll have less time to work on this story... :( Is this story getting too depressing or sappy? Well the second half of this is a bit more lighthearted and someone finally makes appearance (and kickstarts a journey to find Star and Marco! Well...just one of them really.) You all probably guessed who, but without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

"Marco!" It was the voice of Star. Marco looked around; he was standing atop the crest of a mountain, with clouds swirling around, expanding into the infinite horizon. He stared, the sun quickly rising above the sky and beaming brightly and proudly.

A horizontal slit formed across the sun, and then opened, revealing an eye. The eye blinked as Marco reached his arm out, and it ascended, the sky transiting from blue to orange, before purple.

A constellation of stars swirled in tiny eddies, condensing into a bright star with a defined corona that seemed to orbit around it. The sun and the eye joined the star, revolving around each other, in perfect harmony as the sky reddened.

Marco was levitating now, drifting slowly towards the celestial bodies now. He had a fear of heights, but now, he felt at peace, awed by the spectral show. As he approached closer, the redness in the sky intensified as a crescent moon slowly faded in, becoming a pronounced imprint in the sky. It grew until both the sun and the star were enclosed in it.

Everything else faded away into darkness, with only Marco and the three objects remaining in the air.

"Marco," Star's voice came again. She sounded like she was in distress. Marco looked all around him, with nothing but the vast expanse of emptiness in all directions.

"Star?" he called. He turned his attention back to the star, as an orb came out. His eyes lit up with joy as Star emerged from the hazy light. Her long hair flowed freely, and her gentle smile beckoned him closer. She looked like a goddess.

"Marco," Star said, holding out her arms to him. They gravitated towards each other, until finally, were in each others' arms.

"Star, I'm so glad you're here," Marco said, closing his eyes as they embraced.

"Oh Marco…" Star said softly. He opened his eyes and to his horror, her body had begun to deconstruct, turning gradually into fine, sand-like particles, all speeding away from him.

"Star!" Marco cried, but his hands began to deform as well, his body rapidly disappearing into the unknown, chasing after Star.

He was formless now, without a body. He looked up, and saw what used to be his and Star's body conjoining together in a thick cloud of dark dust. The sun and the star merged, unleashing a powerful shockwave that briefly brightened the dark emptiness.

The moon closed in, wrapping around the stars before it completely encased it, shielding the light emitted from both and leaving behind a low-intensity aura of dull red.

The emptiness around Marco began to materialize again, with countless of stars reforming above, valleys below forming, seas and mountains rising, and clouds moving about. Light from villages emerged, and castles were erected, as Marco now saw below him, the Mewni dimension.

A different, deep voice took Marco by surprise. "Marco." It was a voice he had never heard before.

"This, is your destiny." Marco's view was inexplicably changed to force him to look at the enclosed moon above which pulsated quietly. Cracks began to form, splitting into infinite fractals before shattering, revealing a darkened ball of mass. Black ash poured out of the deteriorating seams, falling down to the earth. The ball rose higher and higher into the sky as it grew in mass, before it became as large as a house.

"Behold," the voice said. The ball burst, unleashing a hellish horde of winged demons and other repulsive creatures that dove towards the earth below. The ball deflated slowly as the creatures were expelled.

Marco's view was redirected to the harrowing scenes below, as the land erupted in flames and magma forced its way up to the surface. Although Marco was high up in the sky, he could hear the piercing and agonizing screams of the innocent below. Mewmans everywhere were being attacked and savaged as the demons had at them.

"It will be done," the voice said firmly. Once again, Marco's view shifted upward, as the ball had finally flattened into a husk, as the last of the demons had left. The ball split into two, and each grew again, this time in the shape of humanoids.

Marco instantly recognized who the two were. It was him and Star. Both were dressed in draped robes adorned with majestic regalia of the star and the sun. Devoid of emotion, their faces glowed, apathetic to the chaos below them.

Star gracefully revealed her wand from her robe. The wand looked like nothing like what it was currently in Star's hands. Its golden sheen contrasted well with the couple's red outfits, and the symbol at the crest was merely the blood moon crescent.

Star switched the wand from her left to her right hand, where Marco held onto the wand as well. Together, they held the wand up before it shone a beacon of light that tore through the sky.

The stars in the sky fell, in the same fashion as the demons before them, as flaming balls of fire. Marco looked down as the apocalyptic ravaging laid waste to Mewni, the entire land engulfed in flames and smoke.

The demonic Marco and Star above, beamed another ray of light into the sky, ceasing the stars' fall. The flames below quickly dissipated, the burnt landscape a charred black and grayed beyond recognition. Gradually, the land began to recover, greenery returning and the oceans reforming. However, instead of castles and villages, cities with modern architecture emerged, and freeways sprawled across the land.

Marco realized now that what he was seeing was his home: Earth.

"It shall be done," the voice said once more. Just as Earth had finally formed, it went up in flames, just as Mewni had. The seas boiled and the earth became molten, everything Marco cared dear and true, evaporating away, all because of _him and Star_?

Looking back up, Marco and Star had stopped holding onto the wand, the wand itself was floating by itself, moving upward, away from the couple. The two began falling towards the burning earth, their limp, lifeless bodies meeting the destruction they created. Their purpose had been fulfilled.

Their bodies disappeared into the flames below, but the wand remained hovering. The recurring cloud of black ash seen throughout the journey formed again around the wand, but this time, the blood crescent on the crest was replaced by two glaring eyes.

Everything around him had turned into darkness again, the fog of the unknown shrouding the eyes. The eyes peered straight into Marco's line of vision, staring deeply into him. It was aware of Marco's presence.

Finally, Marco knew where the voice had come from. " _Take_ the wand."

Marco screamed, sitting straight up. It was dark, even though his eyes were wide open. He remembered that he and Star were still stuck in the cave. He touched his own body, the physical sensation confirming that he was no longer in the dream.

"M...Marco?" Star's voice said softly, to his right.

Marco leaned back down, towards her direction. He felt her breath brushing his face. He had no idea how close she was, but he knew to keep his distance.

"I had a bad dream," Marco said monotonously, who had still not fully absorbed the visions he had just seen.

"This whole thing...is a freaking bad dream," Star sighed.

"It is."

"Marco. Listen...I'm sorry...How you feel."

"D-don't be."

"I feel guilty, truly...I do."

"It's not you who should be Star. It's me…"

"You can't help it. It's your feelings...I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"You didn't...you were fine. I...I don't know how I feel anymore."

"I...I really do wish…"

"You don't even have to say it Star. I know you do."

"But we will always be friends. You know that you know?"

"My _best_ friend."

" _True_ friends."

They both sighed and let the silence take over. Only the faint sound of water dripping accompanied them.

"I…" Marco began, wanting to disclose Star his dream. What did it all mean? Was he and Star was not meant to be? On a cosmic-scale? Would their relationship spell the utter annihilation of the universe?

"Yes?"

"Never...never mind Star. We should go back to sleep."

"Okay."

 **[At the Royal Palace]**

"Your Royal Majesties!" Manfred cried, panting as he arrived at the foot of the royal thrones.

"Have you news of the whereabouts of our daughter?" Queen Butterfly cried, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"Yes, where is our daughter!" King Butterfly boomed.

"Her careplace is no longer suitable for her stay," Manfred began before he was interrupted.

"Where! Where is _she_!" the Queen cried.

"Well, mm," Manfred said nervously, sweating. "She has left the Earth dimension."

"She _what_!" the Queen shrieked, standing up in horror. "After I had instructed her to never leave there without our permission. Can you believe this?" She looked at the King who fumbled, fidgeting.

"I...er, er…"

"You knew about it? You knew this whole time she was gone?"

"Heavens no!" the King cried. "Not...not this time!"

The Queen's eyes flared and she began slapping her husband angrily. "You let her to go to and fro the dimensions!"

The King cried, "I didn't know this time she would be gone!"

Manfred continued, hoping the two would listen on. "The princess, she...she and her friend, the Earth boy, they...they had caused permanent damage to their standing and reputation on Earth. They fled to we believe, Mewni in fear of reprehension."

" _Believe?_ What on Mewni do you mean!" the Queen wailed. "Are they here or not?"

"We do not know where exactly they are but we have much reason to believe that they are here!" Manfred said frantically.

"How?"

"We...we are assuming so," Manfred admitted frankly, rubbing his shoulder. "Where else could she have gone."

"I don't know!" the Queen bellowed. "She's a teenage girl! She could have gone anywhere! How did she get those dimensional scissors!"

"Get me King Pony Head," King Butterfly declared. "I suspect his daughter may have been responsible."

"If I recall correctly," Manfred said, trying to choose his words correctly in these times of distress. "Princess Pony Head is in attendance at St. Olga's."

"Well perhaps when we find our daughter," the Queen gritted. "She could find the company of her rebellious friend there too!"

"We're going straight away to Earth to speak to Star's caretakers!" the King said. "I just went there a few days ago, I am sure they‒"

"What! That's where you went when I kicked you out? You visited Star?" the Queen cried.

"Er, oom, uh," the King stuttered, pressing his fingers together.

"Why didn't you notice anything suspicious or controlled her behavior!" the Queen cried. "I should just kick you out again!"

"Darling dear! I had not known! She seemed quite fine herself then."

"Oh but now looked what happened! Tell me Manfred, what happened to Star's friends' parents."

"The Diazs. They, they are imprisoned by Earth authorities," Manfred said, suddenly realizing he had more bad news to deliver.

"How is this possible!"

"On Earth, or at least in that king...kingdom? Country, they do not take kindly of foreigners who overextend their stay."

"What madness! They were imprisoned over that?"

"Yes Your Majesty."

"Imprisoned and executed for delivering bad jokes or making bad calzones I understand _yes_ , but...but being good hosts to strangers from another dimension...that's preposterous!"

"The Earth dimension. They apparently had not known of our existence, or even the existence of the other dimensions."

"Darling, I thought they knew," the Queen told her husband.

"It...it…it seemed as though they didn't care about our magic and presence," the King said nervously.

"This bring shames upon the House of Butterfly! An incompetent king, a grieving queen, and a missing princess!" the Queen bemoaned.

"It is only a matter of time before the authorities of Earth will attempt to establish communication with Mewni."

"Oh gracious," the Queen balked, rubbing her temples. "More of this! More princes to come at our door, begging for our daughter's hand?"

The doors burst opened, and a familiar voice followed. A young demon boy in shades walked in, chuckling, kicking up tiny flames with each step.

"What is he doing here!" the Queen hissed at Manfred. "I was not informed of this!"

"Quite frankly, I didn't know about this either!"

"Your Royal Majesties!" Tom cried, bowing before them. "I know about what happened to Starship."

"What...did you just call her?" the King said, raising an eye, frowning.

"Oh ho, right, right, I mean, Princess Star," Tom shrugged up suavely, chuckling.

"Tom, I know what you are about to say. But now is not the appropriate time for your begging!" the Queen shouted.

"Your Majesty, I mean _no_ harm!" Tom said reverently. He placed a hand on his chest humbly and bowed again. "I will find your daughter and rescue her safely."

"I suppose you're intending to receive our blessing after you somehow save her," the Queen frowned.

"Well hey, haha, let's not jump to conclusions," Tom laughed.

"That is my wife who also happens to be the Queen you are talking to!" the King blared.

"She is also the very kind mother of the very fine girl I know as Star," Tom quipped. "Look, I know me and her, we had rough patches! But I've improved, I've learned from my mistakes!"

"Aren't you the boy that got angry because a boy was staring at her?"

"Yes, I mean no! What! I'll get my hands on that kid. He was staring at her seductively" Tom said, trying to control himself. He was fuming.

"He was blind Tom. Blind," the Queen scoffed.

"It didn't matter! I taught that boy a good lesson."

"An orphan boy."

"I didn't know! Anyways, okay, okay, I admit, those things happen but I really did change! Hey Brian, come over here and tell them."

A pudgy man in glasses ran in, with his flip flops, holding a pink bunny.

"This, this here is Brian, and he's been helping me with my anger issues."

"Oh I am very amused," the Queen yawned. She dazed off before her face glared and exploded, "MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING AND EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY FOR THIS!"

"Wow, someone needs a life coach," Tom muttered.

"Take a deep breath," Brian began.

"Shut up!" the Queen barked. "Oh I cannot believe the audacity you had. No wonder why my daughter broke up with you. You know, that boy...he I would rather trust."

Tom bottled up in anger, recounting that new "friend" Star made on Earth. The boy who took away his girl at the night of the Blood Moon. The dance! How dare he! Full of jealousy, he realized that he was _still_ pitching his idea to Star's parents, an _idea_ that might be his only chance to win back Star.

Brian gave Tom the bunny and Tom rubbed the rabbit's coat, calming down. "Ah, but say I do find Star. And I mean, it's almost time for her ascension right?"

The Queen raised her eyebrow, remembering that Star was nearing the coming of age, and thus, the responsibilities as the new queen of Mewni. "Yes?"

"Well, what better way to pass all those nonsense and potential, you know, wars and political alliance shenanigans than just getting over that right now when there's still a chance?" Tom asked.

"Politics is much more complicated than that. It is more than just marriages and the silly treaties," the Queen said dismissively.

"But you know, honestly, of all the candidates out there, have you _really_ seen anyone perfect for Star? How many have tried getting her hand?"

"Quite a lot, and none of them worthy. Not even you."

"Okay, but I'm the only one who's actually been in a relationship with Star and we've got a history."

"You've got a _history_?" the King said enraged. "What do you mean by that!"

Tom was taken aback before jabbering quickly, "Oh what! You mean like...oh no, no, not like _that_." He laughed before saying under his breath. "One time we almost did."

"What was that!?"

"Yeah no, uh, we understand each other and I'd treat her just right. We've both matured."

"Well maybe you have, but she clearly hasn't!" the Queen pointed out.

"Let me be her steering wheel. I know just about everything about her and if we get married, I'll make sure this kingdom will be running rather smoothly."

"Hmm, marrying our daughter off to the prince of the underworld. Yes, that sounds _tempting_ ," the Queen said sarcastically.

"What other choice do you have? I mean, honestly, she's gone and someone's gotta find her. Look, I'm gonna find her and I don't care if you won't let me have her hand. Uh, I'll let you think about it! But, hey, I'll save her, and you'll be able to see her again!"

"Do it. Perhaps...we may reconsider."

"Then it's a deal?"

"It is...I suppose, a deal."

"Awesome," Tom said, smiling deviously. _Oh, you're gonna pay Marco_.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** As always, leave behind your thoughts regarding this chapter (or the story overall), your suggestions, your critique, and whatnot. I appreciate all the support I had, and am always trying to improve my storytelling. This really is my first fanfic after all! Thank you all so much and see you in the next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12: Luna

**Author's Note (August 26, 2015):** Hello! I'm sorry I haven't been able to post anything for the past couple of days. With school again, I've been pretty busy but I haven't forgotten this story at all! This chapter incorporates more information from the plot developed in the series' canon from both the St. Olga's and Mewnipendence Day episodes. I hope you enjoy, and I'm sorry if you wanted to see more Star and Marco, but they won't be mentioned in this particular chapter. They'll be back being the cute dorks (or sappy cinnamon rolls I've made them) in the next chapter. 150% less depressing! I promise :)

* * *

"Toffee, I have heard much from you and your desire to remove the royal family from the throne," Miss Heinous said, her back turned against him, staring outside the window.

"I would do everything in my power to undo the great injustice the Butterflys have caused for all of us," Toffee said. Around him stood his army, and in a corner, Ludo was sitting on a stool, still bound by rope and gagged.

"The contemporary version of St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses most are accustomed to, as you know, was established by me, to teach disorderly royal girls to become subservient, dutiful leaders of their nations."

"All of us are quite aware of it," Toffee said succinctly. "Your work has helped many."

"Yes, but that is what most would like to believe. Princesses come here bashful and rebellious, but they leave quite well-mannered and decent. Alas, rumors spread, making the institution seem as if it were a bad thing."

"Well, you must admit, it is just about any teenage girl's nightmare."

"Oh yes, but their individuality, that is something _royal_ teenage girls cannot afford to do."

Miss Heinous turned around, darkly crooning. "I find my work quite enjoyable, but, I have ulterior motives. Common interests between you and I."

"One of your guards, he told me just about everything this academy desires. The revolution, the assassinations...the _prophecy_."

Miss Heinous' eyes narrowed deviously and murmured, "So you know?"

"I know only enough with what your guard revealed to me." Toffee leaned closer with a sly smile. "I am all for it."

"Come, we have much to talk," Miss Heinous said warmly, standing up with a cup of tea in her palm. "Your men, they may rest in the dining chambers. The girls are all asleep now and shouldn't be going about to bother you all. The guards, they are quite efficient in their work. Not a single incident in months."

"I'm quite impressed with the security here."

"The best part of it all, is that none of them need to be compensated for their services."

"How so?"

"Observe. Jasper!" she cried. A bulky guard ran up to her at once with his chest puffed out, ready to demonstrate his loyalty to her. Miss Heinous grabbed Jasper's neck and forcefully twisted his neck, revealing intricate wires and machinery within the detached head and the stem.

Toffee looked with intrigue and said, "Well I must say, between this and the anti-magic crystals, I do not know which of the two is better. Who are the geniuses behind these technological marvels?"

Miss Heinous gave Toffee a crooked smile. "Geniuses? You're staring right at one of them. Oh, you _must_ see my laboratory later on. I am a master of her craft in metallurgy and alchemy. Some research...and a little magic along the way has helped me wonderfully."

They continued on their conversation down the hallway, small talk over Miss Heinous' work as an administrator and a scientist, but Toffee was distracted by his concern of working with whom he perceived as a clear enemy. She seemed to rival him in intelligence and brilliance, that he had not expected. She had more leverage than he had, and he loathed the thought of becoming merely a pawn, of what he had grudgingly accepted, as a capable, dangerous foe.

They arrived to the end of the hallway, which led them to a wide rotunda with hallways in all directions. Each arch was held in place by sturdy, polished columns of dragon-headed statues, and a dim light shone from above. Toffee stared and gasped, surprised.

"You are familiar with this portrait?" Miss Heinous asked, as if she had expected Toffee's reaction.

"I have seen similar, but not as impressive as this."

"I know you've been through it."

"Know what?"

"You were born during the wars. The wars between Mewmens and the monsters, your kind."

"The Great Monster Massacre," Toffee scowled lowly.

"Only one of the many atrocities committed at the hands of the Butterfly family."

Toffee gave her a cold look. "You don't understand."

"Perhaps, I have not," she replied aloofly, wrapping her hands against her back as she walked slowly across the floor. "Have you wondered why this portrait is here, of all places?"

"No."

"You know what I, we, want?"

"I do."

"What is it?"

"To reunite the Dark Lord and his bride, and to cleanse Mewni and all worlds."

"Ah, but that is merely the simple answer." She looked up, admiring the artwork, and studying the finer details, before looking back at Toffee. "This pays homage to the judgment to come. These are your ancestors, your people, enacting retribution against all those who have caused you all misery and suffering."

"But from my understanding, would we not be destroyed as well?" Toffee was genuinely curious, although cautious not to evoke Miss Heinous' suspicion of his doubtfulness.

Miss Heinous grunted dismissively but said kindly, "Now why on Mewni would we wish upon ourselves mass suicide? Cleansing the worlds does not total to utter annihilation. Only those who have wronged the innocent shall fear the end. The Dark Lord is not _evil_ , nor will he seek to destroy the world we know. Just as day and night comes, he is _change_ , change for the better to come. But change does not mean the removal of the old...only an improvement. That improvement...begins with the heads of the Butterflys on the plate of revolution."

Toffee still had his doubts, and Miss Heinous recognized this, but continued. "I know what horrors your people have faced." She stared at his scaly skin pitifully and looked at him. "I know you, and the others, they were not always like this."

Toffee stared at her in disbelief. " _You_ know?"

"Oh yes, quite indeed I do. The Queen, she placed the curse on you all."

Toffee sat down and combed his hair with his claws, frustrated at the very sight of them. "Look...look at what she had done to us."

"Your people, the people of the Detrix, they were kindhearted and simple folk. Independent-minded and well-spirited."

"But the Kingdom came, and demanded tribute, forcing us to surrender our crops, food, clothes, and homes."

"You all resisted, and started an uprising, but in the end, you were crushed because ill-equipped peasants stood no match against a well-fed army...aided by magic."

Toffee glared, and painfully choked, "Then...then they began killing off the men...my father."

Miss Heinous stared at him sympathetically, the first instance that night that her face showed an expression other than sternness or rigid smiles. "I tried to stop them."

"What do you mean?" Toffee asked, confusedly.

"You may not know it...but I, I am partially responsible for all the horrors that ensued. I am sorry."

"You don't mean to say…"

"I am...or, I was, I was a member of the Butterfly family," Miss Heinous said solemnly.

Toffee stood up and growled, "You did this? You did all of this to us!"

"You have every right to be angry, but believe me, I wished I could have done better."

Toffee, realizing that Miss Heinous had, to this point, been hedging for the downfall of the Butterflys, and not to mention the fact lived and led a heavily armed school that he was in, calmed down and sat back on the floor, to hear her out. " _I_ apologize."

"Do not be," Miss Heinous said assuringly. "The guards, the living ones, they know, they know that I am of royal blood. I finally revealed to them this not too long back."

"By what relation are you to the Queen?"

Miss Heinous' face turned grim. "It would not be hard to guess but that I am her one and only sister."

" _You_ are Princess Luna?"

"I was, and I would have become queen of Mewni."

"I had always, or rather, everyone had thought that you died in a horse carriage accident prior to your coronation."

"It was merely a cover-up by my mother," Miss Heinous said rather hushedly, as if she were wary of the presence of others nearby. Her eyes darted around before she looked at Toffee. "You might not see it in me now, but as shocking as it is, I used to be a wayward princess."

"Irony."

"I was the most repulsive princess there ever was, and never once cared for the affairs of the court or the palace. My mother disapproved of my conduct severely, and feared my ascension would spell disaster for the kingdom."

"Had you ever held or even used the wand?"

"Of course I have, it is custom for the princess or prince to receive it on their fourteenth birthday. Immediately starting off with it, I used it and decimated an entire village."

"Decimated?"

"Turned all the townspeople into frogs, but the damage dealt would have been just as severe as vaporizing them."

"So what led to where you are now?"

"Ah, that journey was a long one. As you are familiar with, my supposed death rendered my birthright to the throne obsolete. The line of succession would pass through my younger sister, only a tender age of seven at the time, rather than through me. I was forced off the palace, despite my pleas, and sent away to this very academy, not as a princess of Mewni, for I was dead, but as a maiden-servant.

"My rebellious spirit at first, could not be contained, but over time, I learned, and learned to control myself, almost completely purging all that defined me. I wanted to prove to my mother, my family, even though they never came or knew how I was doing, that I was worthy to be queen." Miss Heinous frowned sadly, clubs appearing on her cheeks.

"Clubs…" Toffee acknowledged. "So it is true."

"Indeed," Miss Heinous sighed uncharacteristically. "My sister, Moon, she was coronated on her eighteenth birthday, thereby removing any hopes of me becoming queen. I was devastated, here I was in these very hallways, scrubbing the floors, destined to be queen, only to be disowned, discredited, and disregarded. The whole world believed I was dead, an unfortunate but anecdotal mishap of the Butterfly lineage.

"Finally, after I had risen in the ranks of the school staff hierarchy, I finally received a call by my family, to summon me to attend an event held by my sister. I was thrilled, and prepared to return back to my family. I did not care for the throne anymore; I only wanted my family once more.

"It turned out, this event, it would be an event that would forever change my outlook in life, and haunt me." She gave Toffee a somber look. "It was the day she had sent the order to punish your people. She knew I had, for a long time, wanted the crown, and she didn't believe that I was a changed person. She thought I was still the impulsive girl she had grown up knowing briefly, and then hearing from the scorn by parents said. She wanted to crush my hopes, and show me what it was like to be queen. She made me her 'representative', and forced me to oversee the orders."

Toffee frowned, sighing heavily. "That damned bastard."

"And so I went, blindly so, not fully articulating just how horrifying her orders were. I watched from above a tower, to give the queen's orders, to commence the executions, and to commence the pillaging. I was about to, until I saw the children, I saw the town's children, all running up toward me, crying for forgiveness and mercy. Soon all the townspeople came, dragging along their...oh." Her clubs darkened, and her eyes watered.

Toffee held out a hand for comfort but Miss Heinous kindly declined, clearing her throat. "Ah dear, thank you. But, there they came. I could not bring myself to do it, but the guards warned me, even if I did not do the order, they would proceed to kill them, and then they would kill me for defying the queen.

"I told them right there, I told them that if that were the case, I'd die with them, and that if my sister were here, she would have seen what wrongs she had committed." It was the first time I had shown defiance and stood based upon my conscience in years, and my cheeks, they flared and revealed my clubs. Up until then, even the guards had not known of my disappearance and believed I was dead. They were horrified, and stowed me away back to the palace. The last glimpse I had of your village, I saw only red and heard the cries of the...of the." She paused, trying to recollect her thoughts. "The children."

Toffee winced in pain, recalling the day. He remembered clearly, everything that Miss Heinous, _Luna_ , had said. His memories, they were fuzzy and unclear, but the one memory that struck him on that fateful day, was his father on the bed, who was terminally ill. The soldiers were surrounding their cottage, and his father instructed Toffee to hide beneath a haystack.

"Stay there my son!" his father weakly begged. The door bursted open as Toffee tried muffling his screams, as the soldiers dragged his father out of the bed, and stabbed him multiple times, his entrails falling out and dropped his still moving body sacrilegiously on the floor. His father stared directly at Toffee, trying to take a last good look at his son, before his eyes drifted away.

The next instance, Toffee found himself pulled out of the haystack, and brought out to the streets, where his neighbors, he remembered faintly, were fighting against other soldiers leading them to their deaths. Beating him, the soldiers jeered and taunted him, reminding how they had just killed Toffee's father. One of the soldiers went bold by whipping out a sword, grabbing Toffee by the right hand, and hacking one of the small boy's fingers. He let out, he recalled, a bloodcurdling scream, as he tried to wrap around his gushing wound, and it stung.

"And then she came," Miss Heinous said. Toffee listened attentively, wishing to hear more of Luna's side of the story. "Moon, she came. She apparently knew I could not carry out the order and arrived to assess the damage. That day, to cast an everlasting legacy and warning to all those who dared oppose the kingdom in the realms, she cursed your people. She condemned to become ugly, brutish creatures, the same form as the monsters Mewmans had fought against since Mewni's foundation. Ironically, many of these monsters were ones your people had fought so often. Tragically, they suffered the same unfairness that the original monsters had as well."

Toffee did not remember the exact moment he had transformed into the reptilian appearance he now possessed. He knew, that it were only a few days after the attack that he woke up to find himself scaly and slimy. As if it were not enough to lose his father and his finger, he was malformed into a sickly beast. He had every reason to enact vengeance upon the Butterflys.

"I returned to the palace, and my sister had all the guards who knew of my identity to never speak of it, and I was sent back to the school once more. Not even a dinner, not even a night to stay. She merely had me come to see the massacre take place, almost as if she sadistically enjoyed my suffering." Miss Heinous said gloomily.

"I was traumatized. I could still hear the screams and remember the faces, and knew, and knew I could have done more. I had fully learned the wrongs my family had done, and did everything in my power to get myself to forget both my heritage, and of that day.

"I began fully embracing the princess mentality, and wished upon the same blissful ignorance and duty expected on all other princesses. I suppose, one could say, through the years, I had grown into an entirely new person, almost completely separate from the past I came henceforth.

"I became a new individual, but I did begin speaking to my sister again, but always never in person. Always by mirror, and she had the look of shame and contempt at me. Never once did I ever please her, and she cared not of my own accomplishments, and she never even acknowledged the work I did for the kingdom. She never appreciated me in the least bit.

"Finally, the cracks began to show up again, the signs of rebellion, the roots that defined who I am returned, slowly but surely, and then, I began to realize all my life, I had been trying to repress myself in favor of a cause, a lost cause, and evil cause. The crown was mines, and the kingdom had suffered enough at the hands of a maniacal tyrant.

"When I learned of my niece, I knew there had to be a way to put an end to my family's rule. My sister spoke of sending her off here if she failed to use her wand responsibly, and so I tightened security here and held a firmer grasp of order and discipline here. But at the very same time, those compelling thoughts of defiance and individuality, they began working their way up. The thoughts returned to me as fresh wounds, and I broke down, broke down thankfully in private, in the laboratory, but the guards, they knew. They saw the clubs."

Miss Heinous had been pacing herself as she spoke, walking back and forth across the floor. She now stopped, and said to Toffee. "Look at the floor, and look at what you see."

Toffee stood up, and observed, finally noticing the unusual designs that spanned across the floor. He was sitting atop a sun with an eye juxtapositioned in the center of it, and near Miss Heinous was an encircled star. Around them, there was crescent moon, with various symbols drawn along it.

"Has that crack been there?" Toffee asked, pointing towards a sizable fissure running through the center of the moon.

"It appeared last week," Miss Heinous said curiously. "We had no idea how that had happened. But this all here, this school, it was built by an order of masons who were sworn to secrecy. They were knights of the stone, but were fascinated by the occult, and consulted with spirits and used sorcery. They produced this room, at the heart of the school, to hold their meetings, but they left countless of work suggesting visions predicted by their soothsayers."

"These have something to do with the Dark Lord and the bride?"

"We believe so, at least since the school soothsayer began receiving premonitions for the past three months."

"And why do you believe her so readily?"

"Because she has accurately predicted the future several times before already."

"Where is she?"

"I will show you," Miss Heinous said, once again leading the way, this time, to a different hallway.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** Leave behind your thoughts and reviews! I appreciate them greatly and I thank you all for being patient with me. Waiting for this is still not anywhere near to horrible as waiting 2 more weeks for the latest SVTFOE episodes and 3 weeks for the SEASON FINALE! That'll be exciting, but I guess (most of us) will have to suffer through school/college first. Let's embrace it; we can make it! Until next time!


	13. Chapter 13: Shower

**Author's Note (September 7, 2015):** SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! I've been so busy with school lately and I've been working on other things as well. I hadn't had the time to work on this story for quite some time but don't you all worry, I've come to deliver. Some time this week, I'll try releasing another chapter. I might hold off into next week's newest episodes (YEAH, IT'S COMING BACK!) to adjust my story to any canonical development. Also, two weeks until the finale. TWO WEEKS. The fandom will explode, I swear, the LORE, fam, it's happening. In the meantime, enjoy another chapter from this mediocre fanfic.

* * *

Star woke up to the pervasive, dull, aching pain. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in the cave, and Marco was probably at her side, in the darkness. She rolled over to face Marco, lying still, listening to hear the soft breathing of her friend.

 _Poor Marco_ , she thought to herself. Sure enough, she heard him breathing, rather rhythmically, with slow, gradual intake, and relaxed exhale. After all they had gone through, Star could not deny all that her friend had done for her. He truly was her best friend.

She turned onto her back again, and realized how cold she was. Her clothes were still damp, plastered onto her skin, making it unbearingly uncomfortable. Star's hair was also still tender and silky, drenched in water.

Star pulled out her wand, and it glowed, its light bright enough that she could see Marco lying on the floor in the fetal position, his arms tucked tightly around his legs, facing toward her. She looked at him with pity.

"Room Light Transform," she said quietly, and the entire cave lit up. Tucking the wand back into her satchel, she brought herself to stand up, although with substantial difficulty, as her legs wobbled and shook violently. Her body was weak and sore, but Star had to do everything in her power to get herself and Marco out of here. The first order in business was to get new clothes.

 _Is there a spell for that?_ As she adjusted towards walking again, she looked around, examining the cave chamber that they were in. Star approached the murky pool of water that sat against one of the wall's room.

The stillness of the repulsive water was only broken every now and then by the occasional drop of water that fell from an idle stalactite hanging above the ceiling. She dipped a finger into the water, and immediately pulled back upon contact, disgusted. Looking around, the rest of the room was barren and uncharacterized, save for the natural cave formations that jutted up from the floor and the ceiling.

Star could hear the thundering of the waterfall from the chamber they were in earlier. She noticed the room had three other passageways on the other side. She knew the two would have to explore each later on in the hopes of getting out.

An awful stench had begun to proliferate Star's senses. Covering her nose, she walked around in search for the smell. It seemed to follow her, mercilessly bothering her with the pungent smell.

She grimaced, finally realizing that the smell came from herself. She took a whiff of her sleeve and gagged, confirming her suspicion. She needed to clean herself up. It wouldn't be hard to do. Star knew a spell that could summon soapy bubbles that would make her spiffy clean. She sometimes used it back on Earth while she showered, just to have a little more fun then. The waterfall only made things even more convenient.

Star looked back at Marco, who was sound asleep. He was probably knocked out cold by now. For the millionth time, she couldn't imagine how horrible things had turned out for Marco. Just the sight of him compelled Star to hug him to death...but that could only make matters worst. Marco _liked_ her! Star had to be sensitive about Marco's feelings, and she feared that whatever she did now, considering how close they have been, would give him false hope again this early in the post-confession stage.

 _Things will be awkward for a while_.

She incanted a spell that summoned Marco a blanket. Placing it over him, she gingerly patted his scruffy hair, and left for the waterfall. The passageway was shorter than she had expected. When she and Marco gone through it, it seemed like ages. It was in here though, where Marco confessed and broke down. She _carried_ him through this afterwards, as he bawled, holding on for comfort to the girl who could not share the same feelings he had for her, the girl who had brought him this _misery_.

Star leaned against the wall, on the edge of the waterfall. The sound was as deafening as she remembered it, and she sighed. Looking down, she saw the smidge of red stained against the rocks. _Marco's blood_.

Star kicked off her boots and laid them against the wall away from the stream. Strenuously pulling off her sodden stockings, she cautiously dipped her right leg into the water to test the depth. The biting cold greeted her as she struggled to avoid scratching up her leg or falling in.

Touching the river floor, Star eased herself into the water, clutching onto the floor before seeing if she could withstand the current. She fell in, the water coming up to her stomach. Adjusting her posture and balancing, the current wasn't too bad. She shivered again, as she climbed out of the water, the weight of freshly drenched dress bogging her down. Rolling onto the passage floor, she stood up, and undressed, throwing her dress and undergarments onto her boots. She placed her wand next to the edge, ready to use it when the time called for it.

On how she would dry them would be a problem for later she thought. Relieved that she was no longer entrapped in her drenched clothes, Star took a moment to admire herself before looking down the passageway and struck with embarrassment. She jumped into the water, terrified of the possibility of an unsuspecting Marco coming by to _see_ her nude. Star bent down, letting the water up to her shoulders, wary, wishing she had something to conceal her while she bathed.

For a while, she stayed still, immersing herself in the cool water as it rushed against her body. Her body felt relieved, and her aches didn't seem as noticeable as before. She grabbed the wand and said, "Bubble Cloud Formation."

A pink mist formed above her, and began raining bubbles, as they lazily descended, falling onto Star's hair and body. She began scrubbing herself, and let the soap seep into her hair as she massaged it.

Star moved underneath the waterfall as she washed off, soaking in the powerful force of the falling water. Star got out of the waterfall, and leaned against one of the rocks to think. She couldn't get her mind off of feeling bad for Marco. Everything inside her wanted to tell her that he would eventually get over it. But there was something deeper she felt, that was off. What was it?

She remembered Oskar, oh that dream boy she had a massive crush on. It felt awfully wrong now to think about him though. It hadn't been a day yet since she last seen him, seen him and the rest of Earth when life was still normal!

 _Why do I like him?_ Star was troubled by this. Her being troubled by this thought only added to her concern. Her forehead furrowed. Was it that she suddenly had this thought troubling or the question that stood asking troubling.

Star had always had a thing for bad boys. There was just something sensual and exhilarating that they had that she liked. She remembered her ex-boyfriend, Tom. Back when she was infatuated with the Demon Prince, Star was at his heels, reverent of just about every aspect of his personality and himself.

They broke up of course, after Star had grown frustrated with Tom's clinginess and controlling self. His anger issues certainly weren't helping either, and Star grew to realized that she never truly loved Tom, only that she was attracted to what at the time, seemed amazing.

Was Oskar the same thing? She tried remembering everything she knew about Oskar. He could play the keytar, he was handsome, he had a record…. She stared at the water flowing by her. _Is this all I know about him? Is that all to him?_ She admitted, she had never seen Oskar done anything else other than playing the keytar.

 _He's talked to me though!_ Oskar had to be at least interested in what she had to say though. That one time they had a conversation on the phone….Oskar, if she ever find a way out, she would do everything to find out about him, and she would only fall more love in him. And Marco would be okay with that too! He liked Jackie after all. _Things will work out_.

She sank deeper into the water, back to her neck. _Things will work out_. The uneasy feeling inside her was still there, ever so subtly, like a lump pressing against her innards, working its way slowly, squeezing every ounce of comfort from her.

Her thoughts returned to Marco. Her best, dear, dear friend. She liked him. She loved him. But she didn't like him _that way_. It wasn't supposed to be like that. Marco was everything she could have asked for as a friend, and there was nothing more she could have wanted from him.

 _He's only been by my side these three months._ She couldn't forget all the great memories and times they've had through the little time they had just met. They had grown so close, and now, it seemed….

 _Why don't I like him?_

She covered her mouth, surprised, as though she had spoken it aloud herself. She eased again, letting the thought sink in.

 _I mean...objectively...from a neutral point of view. He's...he's kinda cute_. She nodded, agreeing to herself. But she couldn't like her best friend. It wasn't right and they would always just be friends platonically.

 _But why?_

What caused her to not see Marco in that particular way? She didn't want to admit to it, but subconsciously, she knew that she did wish she could just like him. After all, they were so close and done everything together, why couldn't it happen?

She thrashed against the water, frustrated with these thoughts. She dipped her head into the water, closing her eyes, and let the water flood her eardrums. Star didn't need to think about this right now. She didn't want to.

 _But why?_ she kept thinking. The question kept poking through her mind as she tried to shut it out. She couldn't help it, no matter how hard she tried to distract it. She sat, slumped, her bare back against the rugged river wall, her bottom and her feet resting on the rockbed below. Star sighed.

* * *

 **Author's Post-Chapter Note:** I chose to write this over my AP homework, but with the little time I had, I'm sorry not much could really have been done. As you could see, Star is beginning to struggle against her own inner demons (spoiler or not? /r/conspiracy). Will this mean Marco the Cinnamon Roll will finally be with Star? No! Janna is best girl. Manna (or Jarco anyone?) all the way. No, I'm kidding _ I will always be Starco trash. Stay tuned for the next chapter. I'm surprised people still continued to read this even during my two-week hiatus. Remember to leave behind a review. It's a good gauge at how I'm doing! :)


	14. UPDATE 1

Hey everyone, it's been well over a month since I last updated this fanfic, and I know many of you have been eagerly anticipating the next chapter. I have been very busy in my life, but I definitely haven't forgot about this story.

With the cursed hiatus upon us, (after that amazing finale), I've had the time to reflect on my story, and concluded that I may want to _**rewrite**_ it all! Now some of you are thinking: why? While I appreciate all the positive reviews, I personally feel that the story's events have become a bit too convoluted and rush-and not true to the essence and dynamics of the _Star vs._ series.

Rewatching the entire series twice (and absorbing an endless stream of Starco material), I will rewrite the story that will focus primarily on Star and Marco themselves. I've enjoyed writing in the other characters' perspectives, but I decided that it'd be best to stay committed to one view. I also want to ensure that my story not only entertains, but has _substance_ , and isn't merely a fanfic fodder. I've been interested in a lot of literary pieces recently, and I decided that there should be more to the story than just a plot.

Again, make no mistake, I love this community and I love writing this story. I won't rush my chapters anymore-I will use the time I have to refine it before I publish it, so the revamped story will most likely update every 1-2 weeks. I promise if I'm ever in my own writing hiatus, I'll post an update. Now, if you're wondering this revamp will change everything in the story, I assure you, it will not. What I had planned for this story will still be retained in the next. Yes, there will be new details and events that didn't happen in the story as it is now, but I'm not tossing _everything_ I've developed up to this point.

I hope you all understand, and I hope you will enjoy the revised version of this story which should come out no later than the end of this month.

May you all survive the hiatus!


	15. UPDATE 2

**NOTICE** : If anyone who has read this story and has been wondering where in the world is the next chapter, I regret to inform you all that I will not be updating this story any longer (though this long hiatus [LONGER THAN THE WAIT FOR SEASON 2!] was enough for some of you to figure that out) after over a year in the making, I simply was left unsatisfied with the story and lost interest. I deeply apologize for being in the dark for so long, and while I am still a diehard fan of _Star Vs._ and Starco, I didn't think my story reached to my expectations or standards. Since then, I have pursued other projects but nearly an entire year since the last update, _**HOWEVER**_ that does not mean I'm never going to write fanfics for this series. In fact, in addition to possibly writing a story for another series, I may consider creating a revised version of the _The Forbidden Bond_. While many of you have been receptive of it (and for that I am flattered), as I said, it simply did not meet my own expectations, and I look back at it with wasted potential and disappointment. For those who have stuck around, checking for any updates, this is this particular story's last "update" but it is not the end of the story.

In short, while there are no plans (as it stands) to continue _The Forbidden Bond_ , I may create a new version of it (adapting story elements and plot from Season 2). Let me know how you feel in the reviews or private message me as nothing is final. I appreciate the support!


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